Witness Protection
by Nature9000
Summary: When criminals that have been hunting Rudy for many years finally locate him, and attempt to scare his students into staying away, it is up to Jack and his friends to save him and their loved ones. However what begins as a search and rescue for their mentor quickly turns into a race to save the world from a very dangerous organization.
1. The Red Flag

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N: This is going to be a big story, not big as in long, though it could be, big as in plenty of action and drama. I love martial arts, and I can't exactly explain where the idea came from, but you will enjoy it. It will connect various shows, but the two main ones are Kickin' It and, yes, Hannah Montana. Give it a shot, I'm sure you'll enjoy it once you see what's going on. However for certain things to work, I need to bump Hannah Montana's year back to 2000. Nothing else will change except the year. Trust me, and enjoy

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Chapter 1 (The Red Flags)

"_One more, Jack, just one more_," Jack mentally prepared himself after each match in the summer tournament. It was an endurance tournament testing his mental wit, strength, and of course, endurance. The last contestant managed to fight through fifteen people, he was about to take on his sixteenth.

His friends cheered him from behind as he huffed and shook his sweat drenched hair from his eyes. The one in front of him had to be ten times his size, but nothing was quite like that robot that Bobby Wasabi gave them a while back. Not only that, but Sensei Rudy took down that wrestler that was about ten times _his_ size. Granted, it was on a really bad day, in which every time they tried to ask him what was wrong, he blew them off. His face would grow tense, angry, and he would storm off, muttering curses under his breath. This was about a year ago, but he still remembered the day well.

Jack glanced about the arena and frowned as his eyes danced from Kim, to Jerry, then Milton and Eddie, but Rudy was nowhere to be found. Even Bobby Wasabi was there to cheer him on! Rudy never missed these tournaments, so it was strange enough that his mentor wasn't here for him. It was fine, though, he could still take this guy on whether or not the man was there to root for him.

"You can do it, Jack!" Kim exclaimed from the sidelines, bouncing up and down. He smiled slightly and glanced over at the muscular behemoth standing in front of him. He wasn't so big, just a bit tall over-bulked. "Don't get intimidated now! Don't just stand there!"

The man made the first move, rushing towards him and throwing a fist for his face. Thinking fast, Jack turned his heel and spun out of the way, leaning backwards to deflect the blow. He lifted his leg up and kicked forward into the man's back, sending him tumbling for the ground. "The bigger they are, the harder they fall," Jack panted. The man stayed on the ground, much to Jack's pleasure, though he couldn't shake the glare he was receiving from him.

After the match was declared, the man rose up and swept his long ponytail to the side. With a loud roar that shook Jack up from the inside and out, he started to charge. His every footfall seemed to make the earth quake beneath Jack's feet. "You will fall!" His eyes widened as his friends immediately rushed in to tackle the raging bull, but he merely threw them to the side.

The ref blew his whistle, but was ignored. Thinking fast, Jack threw himself into the air, flipping over the giant's head, and kicking down onto his back. Kim rose up from the ground and spun on one foot, then kicked out into the fighter's chest, knocking him back a peg. Then Jerry grabbed his pair of trusty nunchucks and threw them at the man, knocking him out.

"What was that about?" Eddie asked as he hurried over and kicked the behemoth's arm, checking to make sure he was out. Jack lifted his shoulders and looked up as several paramedics rushed in to take the guy away.

Jerry picked up his nunchucks and pushed them back into his uniform. "Maybe he was just a sore loser."

When he hit home, the match was still fresh on his mind. He had an unsettling feeling in his gut, something just wasn't right. The man's eyes had been so full of rage that when he met Jack's eyes, it felt like he was burning into his soul. He'd been so terrified that he froze up in that instant, but he didn't want to mention that to his friends. Jerry was probably right, the guy probably wasn't too thrilled about losing the match to someone that looked like a twig compared to him.

He pushed his hands behind his head and laid back onto his pillow. As he closed his eyes and drifted into slumber, a familiar dream came to his mind. Every year for the past twelve years he had this dream. He was two years old and visiting the concert of a famous international pop star, his mom was holding him in his lap while the smoke on the stage began to clear.

When the smoke cleared, a terrible feeling swept over the crowd. The star was gone, her manager didn't even come onto the stage to announce that anything had gone dreadfully wrong. Instead, a great clamor shot out over the crowd as they started chanting for the star, but it was no good.

He opened his eyes and quickly shot up. His body felt cold, yet hot at the same time, and he was completely drenched with sweat. His chest was pounding and his breaths were coming out in quick, rapid bursts. It always confused him how he woke up like this after the dream, especially since he could never quite figure out what it meant. What was the point?

The bedroom door started to open and his defenses began to start, he never liked when people entered without knocking. As he was about to jump from the bed, Kim came walking in, smiling at him. "Hey Jack." His heart relaxed and he quickly breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Kim…Mom let you in?"

"Yeah, I was worried about you. When you left the tournament, you were freaked out." She sat beside him and put her hand to his forehead. "Are you okay?" He pulled away and quickly nodded, not wanting to worry or upset her too much.

"I'm fine. The match freaked me out a little, but nothing I can't handle." He ran his hand through his hair and gave a quick smirk, attempting to look cool beneath his unsettled spirit. When he looked to Kim, she appeared unimpressed. "Hey, have you ever heard of a pop star named Hannah Montana?" Kim raised an eyebrow and lifted her shoulders.

"Sure. My mom was a big fan of hers, made me a fan too since she almost always listens to her music. She says the singer, as well as a small family, just vanished. It was like they dropped off the face of the earth."

"Really?" He knew her mom had moved away a year ago, so there was no sense in bothering her. Although, he was curious if Rudy might know anything about the pop star. He didn't see how it mattered much, but his curiosity had been sparked, so he at least wanted to know what happened. "I keep having this dream every year. I was two years old and attending her concert with my family, then when she's supposed to go on stage, she doesn't appear. Her manager and her bodyguard aren't there either."

"Hmm…well it's only a dream, but I guess it could mean something."

Jack and Kim made their way to the dojo an hour later, hoping maybe to find Rudy and ask if _he_ knew anything about this pop star. Sure it would have been easier to look it up online, but why do that when they had someone who was around in that era?

Jerry, Milton, and Eddie were already at the dojo for some practice sparring, but Rudy wasn't around. Jerry and Eddie were in the middle of a routine while Milton watched, they stopped only when Jack and Kim entered. "Hey Jack, are you feeling better?" Milton asked. He walked over to Jack.

"I'm fine, but is Rudy here?"

"He's locked himself up in his office," Eddie remarked, "Won't come out and keeps beating things around in there." Very reminiscent of his big fit the prior year. He quickly moved over to the door and started knocking.

"What!" Rudy shouted, jarring Jack into a state of shock. He stammered and cleared his throat.

"Rudy, I was just wondering if you were all right. Can we talk about something?"

"No! I'm busy!"

"What are you doing?" A bang shot out from inside and Jack quickly fell back from the door. Whatever was going on in there, he did _not_ want to mess with. "Okay! I'm leaving you alone then." Turning around, he mouthed a word and slid his hand across his throat for the others. "Okay, whatever's bugging him, let's just leave it alone."

"I'm sure it's nothing to worry about," Kim said while moving a small CD over to the dojo's boom-box. "Anyway, I found this CD in our old music cabinet, I was thinking we could practice with some music." She set the CD in and the song _Wherever I Go,_ by Hannah Montana began to play. He wasn't sure how the song fit the practice, but at the same time, he didn't care all that much.

Jack stepped in the center of the mat, Kim and Jerry stood behind him, spread out a few steps, then Milton and Eddie moved behind them, forming what appeared to be a pyramid. Together they started a formation, throwing simultaneous right punches, followed by a left punch. They moved their fists to their waists and performed a front right kick, letting out a guttural shout. They blocked to the right, turned their bodies, and performed the steps once more. This continued until they returned to the front, where they finished off with a back flip and landed on the ground with their feet spread out.

Instead of being able to cheer, they all jumped to the sound of a door slamming into the wall. Rudy was standing in the doorway, his eyes were puffy, wide and angry, his face red and streaked with tears. He let out a loud rage-filled cry and rushed forward. Jack dodged to avoid him and watched in terror as Rudy performed a flying kick into the boombox. The radio fell to the ground and shut itself off. Rudy stood above it, huffing and puffing, and glaring at the others.

He lifted his arm up and shot his finger down to the stereo. "Never…_Never_ play her music in this dojo! Do you understand me? Never!"

"Rudy, what's the problem?" Jack dusted himself off and stepped forward, lifting his hand to try and comfort the sensei. Everyone else watched with frightened expressions while Kim eyed the broken radio. This was not like Rudy, not at all, but until they knew what the problem was, they couldn't do anything for him. "It's just some old pop star. What's the big deal."

"Just some…" Rudy stammered and rubbed his face. "She wasn't just…okay calming down…" He inhaled deeply and closed his hand in front of his face while slowly pulling his arm down as if trying to center his energy. "You want to play Hannah Montana in here, fine, just _not_ while I'm around…I'll be over at Phil's." Rudy brushed past Jack and started walking off, brandishing his hand in the air.

"Rudy, just tell us-"

"Keep practicing! Don't mind me." Jack exchanged confused glances with the others, then looked towards the door. He really wanted to go after Rudy and talk to him, but something told him to back off, that it would be very bad for him to do. Jerry stepped forward and put his hand to Jack's shoulder.

"So uh, do we go after him or…what?"

Jack smacked his lips and sighed. "Let him cool down. He'll tell us what's up later, I guess." He turned around and looked over to Kim. "Sorry about your CD, Kim." She lifted her hands up and shook her head. The group then returned to their practice, but no matter what, Jack couldn't get out of his head how Rudy reacted. What was the connection?

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See the reason I debated putting this up so soon was because I wanted to get more than 3 chapters written and decide if it's definitely going to happen. Well I have 10 written so far, and I'm posting the 2nd with this to jumpstart you my dear readers. I wanted to wait until one of my current stories was either finished or nearly finished. Well, _Lies that Destroy_ has just a few chapters left to be posted, so enjoy!

Oh and let me know what you thought of this first chapter ^_^


	2. Hunt and Capture

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N: So this begins with Rudy's flashback, the Hannah Montana part I spoke with. Remember that I had to set _only_ the year in 2000 for that. This story is taking place in the current.

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Chapter 2 (Hunt and Capture)

_"So this is it? The last performance?" Jackson Stewart asked as he followed his sister Miley and father, Robbie, backstage. Roxy the bodyguard was leaning up against the wall, watching closely. Miley was throwing her hands up in desperation, her face was soaked with tears. "You can't just give up. I mean, that's not what Lilly would want is it?" _

_ "Lilly's gone because of _me_ Jackson!" Miley proclaimed. She turned around, full of rage and spite. "Because of Hannah Montana! Oliver won't talk to me, Lilly's gone, and I have to travel the world without my family and without my best friends. This wig…" She removed her blonde hair and held it in front of his face. "This wig has caused me more trouble than I ever wanted to have. I don't even know how the hell I could trick everyone in the world with a wig." They heard someone behind them and turned to see Oliver walking up to them, slowly clapping his hands._

_ "It's the trick of your life," Oliver said with a subtle smile. He winked at Roxie and tossed her a piece of cornbread. "Here's some jalapeno cornbread, the last of it, and I know how you like your cornbread." Roxie thanked him and went on her way. He spread his hands out to his sides and smiled more at her. "I know it's hard, but they're right, Lilly wouldn't want you to give up. She'd want you to keep going, to be strong, and if you're not feeling like keeping the secret any longer…don't. I see your point, Miley Stewart can pull off the world's greatest disappearing act, along with Hannah Montana, and somehow nobody notices. Now you just want to do that again? You think they won't notice?"_

_ "I don't know…" Jackson folded his arms and watched the two talk, he was disheartened by the conversation. In a way, Miley had every right to quit now, she let her fame get the better of her. Two months ago, Oliver was on vacation and Miley had a concert to do and was really pushing Lilly to attend. The fact was, Lilly was running late, so she got mad at her. That particular night, Lilly's car had broken down and she was trying to call Miley to swing by and pick her up so she wouldn't have to call the police. Miley was so angry, and wanted to just focus on her conversation, that she hung up her phone without thinking. The next morning, a construction worker found Lilly's body lying in an alleyway, she'd been mugged the night before, just minutes after calling Miley for help. _

_ "He's right," Roxie remarked. She bit into the cornbread and lifted her shoulders. "Don't give in now, you're doing so well." Jackson took a step back and looked around, he had a very bad feeling. Something was dreadfully wrong here, but he couldn't put his finger on it._

_ For one thing, Roxie was the _only_ guard left backstage. Oliver himself came in through the back door, but hadn't been checked. Though that could be explained as easily as him knowing Hannah Montana. _

_ "You never know, your singing can take you to great heights," Oliver remarked. "Everything in life can become something great. Look at my Dad for example, he owns a whole international martial arts chain." _

_ "Oh cool!" Jackson exclaimed nervously, trying to change the subject. Oliver raised an eyebrow and glanced over. "What chain is it? Wasabi? He wouldn't have bought out Bobby Wasabi would he?"_

_ Oliver chuckled and waved his hand in the air. "No, they suck." He frowned at the words. It was his opinion that the Wasabi Martial Arts fighters were the best, he'd recently joined. "Anyway Miley, like I'm saying, don't give up now while you still have ti-" Suddenly Roxie began to cough and pound her chest. Everyone looked over and Oliver's eyes grew wide. "Oh no! Roxie! I know the Heimlich!" He rushed behind her and started to perform the Heimlich on their bodyguard. As he was doing this, several people dressed in ninja wear started to appear from the shadows._

_ "What? What's going on?" Miley asked. She backed up with Robbie and Jackson. These ninjas were throwing nunchucks over their shoulders and performing intimidating kicks. They heard Oliver shout that Roxie was unconscious and looked over to him just in time to see one of the ninjas strike him over the head. "Oliver!"_

_ "We need to get you out of here," Robbie exclaimed. He grabbed Miley and began to pull her back. Jackson whimpered and moved into fighting stance, he knew so little martial arts at this point, but he felt he needed to protect his family _somehow_. As one of the ninjas came to him, he ducked to the side and kicked forward. With each kick and punch he through, he had to take a step backwards towards the back door. "Son! Run Jackson!"_

_ "Dad?" He looked over and shrieked, one of the ninjas had their arms around Miley's waist and she was bent over, unconscious. Robbie was trying his best to ward off the ninjas, but even he was unable to do much with five ninjas crowding up on him. _

_ "Just get out of here son! Go! Save yourself!"_

_ "But Dad-"_

_ "Go! You can't fight them!" His father's angry yell sent him flying out the door. He didn't look back for two blocks, stopping only to fall to his knees. Tears welled up in his eyes as he carefully pulled out his phone and dialed the police. _

Even after all that, the police passed it off as nothing. It was just a 'mysterious' disappearance of Hannah Montana. They didn't even tell _him_ anything. Instead, when he told them his story of what happened, they gave him a new name and a new life. No longer was he Jackson Stewart, but Rudy Gillespie. Every day he lived with the regret that he hadn't stuck around to at least try to fend off the ninjas. At the very least, he could be with his family.

In his usual booth at Phil's, he munched on some of the infamous balls that the place was known for. The food wasn't always the best, but he had to constantly remind himself, this was _his_ life now. There were no more redo chances, there were no opportunities to go back in time, and certainly there was no more looking back. He'd done a good job keeping his true past a secret, but he hated having to lie to those closest to him.

The _only_ person that knew who he was, finding out on accident, was Lonnie from the reptile store. They talked about it and he promised to keep it to himself.

"Rudy?" He looked up, one of the balls was still partially stuffed in his mouth. Jack was standing in the doorway with a look of concern etched on his face. He swallowed the meat down and carefully rested his hands onto the table. He felt enough guilt for how he acted towards the students before, but he wasn't sure if he was ready to face Jack right now. "I…I know you're going through a tough time and all, but…" Jack took his seat at the table and looked directly into his eyes, a sign of equality and respect. "I'm your friend, I'm here for you, and I want you to know that. It's okay to talk to me…if there's anything wrong, I want to help."

"This isn't something you can help with, Jack. Trust me."

"So? Maybe I can at least comfort you."

"You can't…there's _nothing_ you can do."

"I don't agree. I think there is something I can do. I can at least _talk_ to you. Give me a shot. Just between me and you?" He folded his hands over the other and let his eyes sink to the table. Maybe Jack was right, maybe it would be good to have _someone_ other than a crazy lizard know about his past.

He bowed his head and released a heavy sigh. "Fine….between me and you, Jack. Just about everything mentioned in my past…a lot of it is made up. Except for my history in martial arts." Jack raised his eyebrows and started to freeze, but Rudy continued on. "It was all a part of the witness protection…what I have to tell you, you must absolutely keep to yourself." He closed his fingers and shut his eyes. "Here goes nothing…"

On the other side of the mall, Milton and Julie were enjoying a new store with all sorts of scientific objects. Julie was currently holding what looked like a crystal ball with lightning inside it. "Isn't this_ amazing_, Milton?"

"Indeed it is!" He reached for a red lava lamp and lifted it up. "But I don't think it's nearly as awesome as this though." They went on chatting about all the items in the store until the lights flickered out on them. The door shut tight and Julie let out a loud scream. "Julie? It's okay I'm right here."

"What's going on Milton? Why did the lights-" She screamed again and Milton soon found himself kissing the ground. Several shelves, glass, and objects fell onto him. The intense pain stabbed through his body, keeping him from moving at all to try and save Julie.

When the lights came back on, he was able to push some of the debris off and get up. "Julie?" His blurred vision and busted pride left him, but not before realizing that his girlfriend was nowhere to be found. "Julie!"

Behind him, he could hear sounds of breaking glass, as though someone were walking over the debris. Thinking fast, Milton spun around and let out a loud shout, standing before him were two muscular ninjas wielding large swords. "Okay…a fight you want…a fight you're going to get…"

Eddie managed to make his way home, only to find his door wide open and off the hinges. Panic rushed over him and he quickly ran inside, thinking only of his father and sister. Clearly something was wrong. "Dad? Debbie?"

The house had been ransacked, which only added to his growing concern. The couch was overturned, pictures had been thrown about the room, and holes were all over the walls.

He put his hands to his head and started to back up. "Dad? Debbie…are you guys here?" He couldn't be afraid here, he needed to make sure they were okay! With his family fresh on his mind, he started rushing through the house, screaming for his father and sister. Debbie's room had been obliterated in the sense that clothes, drawers, and covers were everywhere. His father's room hadn't been much better.

When he made it to his room, he found a note, warning him that if he continued training with Sensei 'Rudy', he would never find his family again. "No…" Thinking fast, he shoved the note in his pocket and started to run back into the living room. "I need to find the others, fast."

"You won't be going anywhere." He stopped at his doorway and slowly turned his eyes towards his shoulder. Behind him stood two women dressed in black ninja gear, they were holding long electric spiked whips, and had a deadly glare. "We're here to remind you of the message, Edward…"

"M-Message?"

"Yes. Stay away from Sensei Rudy and the Wasabi Dojo…if you care about your life, or your family's life." He swallowed hard and closed his eyes. His heart was racing and sweat was pouring down his back. Stay away from his friends, or be with his friends, what was he to do? "See, Sensei Rudy is going away…if you look for him…you will suffer the consequences."

"Going away? I'm sorry…but if you know where my sister and my father are…mind telling me?" He might not be able to fight these girls off, but if he could find an opportunity to run, he was sure as hell taking it.

Jerry was finding himself in a similar troubling situation, only he was at school. An odd thing, considering it was the middle of summer, but a group of summer school students had his father tied to a chair and were currently circling him. He wasn't moving, out of pure concern for his father, and trying to figure out what exactly he could do. "What do you guys want?" He asked, slowly closing his hands. "Let my pops go, he hasn't done anything."

"No he hasn't," one of the delinquents smirked, "But he's leverage. We're warning you…your sensei's about to take a _permanent_ leave of absence."

"What? Rudy's in trouble? What's going on!"

"Nothing you need to worry about. Just keep in mind…it's up to you to _forget_ about him. He's not who you think he is, and I'm sure once you learn who he is, you won't want anything to do with him anyway."

"You leave Rudy alone!" He pointed to the boy and started moving forward, only to be struck down by someone slamming a bat into him. With a loud grunt, he crashed into the ground. He looked up and narrowed his eyes, his heart was crushing his ribs and anger was shooting through his veins. "You're going to regret doing that. Let go of my Papi, and stay away from my Sensei!"

"Fine. We'll beat the message into you…" Jerry pushed himself up and glared into the man's eyes. He stood guard with his father behind him and slowly wiped the drool from his mouth.

"You can try, but I'm not going down easily."

Kim was the last one to leave the dojo, opting to hang around the mall and wait for Jack to finish talking to Rudy. They were going to have their first date the next day, but today he was walking her home.

When she sat at the edge of the fountain, she noticed something odd about the reptile shop. Lonnie usually closed for the day an hour early, but there were people inside. With nothing to do, she decided to check it out and see what was going on. Though as she got up to move over, she saw Frank, and four of the Black Dragon members leaving the store. Her heart stopped as his eyes met hers and a cold smirk formed on his face.

"Hey Kim…do you regret leaving us yet?" Frank asked. "You have one last chance to come back to us."

"Oh? Do I?"

"Yes…" He chuckled and moved within inches from her, narrowing his eyes. "One _final_ chance to come with us…if not, we're going to make you our prisoner." She raised her eyebrows and rolled her head to the side, mentally she was giving him just mere seconds to back away or die. She wasn't going to become _anyone's _'prisoner'. "Since our guy wasn't able to take out Jack today, we have to send a message somehow."

"Oh? And what message is that."

"That Rudy will be _leaving_, and if you decide to try and find him, you'll die. Knowing Jack, he's a bit of a problem, so we need you for leverage." She jerked back and arched an eyebrow.

"Did you seriously just tell _me_ your plans?" One of the others in the group smacked Frank's arm, calling him an idiot. "I don't know what you're doing, but if you do _anything_ to Rudy or Jack, or any of my friends, then I'll be sure to kick your ass."

"Going to be hard to do that when you're locked up on some remote island." He grabbed her wrist. Her glare snapped to his hand and she instantly flared up with anger.

"You _so_ did not just do that." In an instant she saw the terror on his face. The others groaned, seeing what was coming. With a loud scream, Frank went sailing through the air. "It is on now. I _won't_ be rejoining you guys, get it through your heads!"

Frank rolled along the floor, slowly pushing himself up and flashing his teeth. "You just made the _biggest_ mistake of your life!"

"We'll see about that."

Jack was frozen in his seat, so overcome with shock that he couldn't process a single thought. Rudy had been related to Hannah Montana? He just unloaded the _entire_ story as to who Hannah was, how she came to be, then leading up to the moment he entered witness protection.

Rudy hadn't gone to Seaford, he hadn't trained with Ty, though he did train with the grandmaster. He didn't know who the ninjas were that attacked him, he didn't know what became of his family or of Oliver, but there was one thing that frightened him. People still _looked_ for him. Every single year, he feared that someone might try and find him, and if they did, he had no clue what would happen.

"J-Jack? Say something, would you?" His timid voice pulled Jack back into a sense of reality. He lifted his head and smiled reassuringly at his sensei.

"See Rudy, I'm still here, and I'm not worried."

"Witness Protection, the program sucks. The police don't care about me, Joan's _supposed_ to be the one watching over me, but she's been missing for months now."

"True…" Joan did disappear, another officer had taken her place. It wasn't ever quite explained, but they just overlooked it as her being too overwhelmed and stressed. "I'm sure she's just taken a leave of absence."

"No Jack, I'm telling you, something's up. Joan is too devoted to her job, she's not allowed to take a 'leave of absence' like that. Something happened to her. I'm _not_ just being paranoid this time…"

"Well…I'm the only one that knows, right? I mean, you didn't tell anyone else about this…" Rudy scratched the back of his neck and started to speak, but stopped when an ominous shadow spilled into the room. Jack felt a pit in his stomach and slowly turned back to see Lonnie with three ninjas in the room.

"He's right to be paranoid," Lonnie said with a small frown. "I'm the only one that knows, or did know." Jack and Rudy both stepped up from the booth and moved into fight positions. "They've been looking for you for years, _'Rudy'_. I had to say something…the ninjas asked me. You know they shop in my store all the time."

"Who does?" Rudy asked with a low growl. "What are you talking about?"

"The ninjas that have your family…they're always around. I'm sorry to sell you out, Rudy. It was nothing personal, just…business. I'm sorry man." The ninja's charged past Jack, who was still taken by surprise. Rudy let out a loud gasp and instantly began kicking at the ninjas, but they were starting to overpower him already.

"Jack! Jack get out of here! Go get the others!"

"Oh that won't help," Lonnie remarked. He cracked his neck from side to side, smirking slightly. Jack's eyes started to grow and his friends instantly flashed through his mind. "Fighters have gone after each one of them, delivering a message to them. They can either opt to work with us, ignore this whole situation for the betterment of their lives, or die."

"You leave my friends alone!" Jack roared. He slammed his elbow back into one of the ninjas necks, throwing him into unconsciousness. Lonnie narrowed his eyes and shook his head as Jack started rushing towards him. "No wonder you're so good at your job, you're a lying snake!"

"Hey now, I didn't do a thing. They asked, it was either I tell them or I'd be subjected to physical harm." Jack slid onto his knees and slid his arm back, striking Lonnie in the lower back. Lonnie lurched forward and spun around, narrowing his eyes. "Shouldn't you be more concerned about your mentor? Oh wait, actually I'm supposed to tell you to forget him, aren't I?"

"That's not happening. You won't do a thing!" He looked over to see Rudy going toe to toe with the last ninja. The other one was lying on top of Phil's counter with a pot over his head. "You're already losing."

"Really? Are you sure about that?"

"Yeah, I-" He threw his hand to his shoulder as a sharp pain ran through his shoulder. He let out a loud scream as his vision started to blur and his senses began weakening. "Wh-What did you do?" He heard a loud thud and saw a blurred image of Rudy lying on the ground. "No…."

"Don't worry, the lizard that bit you isn't deadly. It only has enough venom to knock you out for a while…but it's long enough."

"No! I won't let you…" He slowly pushed himself up and stumbled forward. "You're going down you conniving bastard…" In what appeared to be a fruitless attempt, he threw a punch that Lonnie only sidestepped. His punch had been so slow and all of his energy was completely gone, he only fell towards the floor, groaning out in anger before blacking out completely. He'd failed. He failed to protect his sensei, his friend.

* * *

Well, I hope you're enjoying this so far. I have faith that you will enjoy this, there's a lot more to it than what meets the eye.


	3. Resolve

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 3 (Resolve)

"Jack? Jack wake up!" Jack rolled his head from side to side, groaning as his friends' voices shook him into consciousness. When he opened his eyes, his vision began to slowly adjust. Kim was above him, straddling his waist and shaking him via his shirt collar, a clear sign he'd been out for quite some time. Jerry, Milton, Eddie, Phil, and Bobby Wasabi were all above him in a circle He let out a small groan and tilted his head back.

"What happened?" He asked groggily. "Five more minutes guys…" The next thing he knew, he was feeling a sharp pain in his cheek. His head jerked to the side and he quickly sat upright as Kim hopped off him. He threw his hand to his face and stared at her with a look of shock. "Wh-Where am I? What's going on?"

"Someone jumped you," Jerry replied while helping him to his feet. His blond ran cold as Lonnie's betrayal shot back into his memory. He screamed out in anguish and smacked his hand against the chair.

"Damn it! Rudy! I couldn't protect him. That Lonnie…" He took a step back and started to fall. His friends grabbed him and his fingers began to trace his temples. Not only was he not completely awake yet, but his legs felt like butter. "Phil? Why is your restaurant spinning?"

"It isn't," Phil answered. "Quick sit him down, I will grab some water." Jack leaned his head back on the booth and rubbed his eyes, hoping to force them to readjust. Rudy was nowhere around, this was a problem, and _he_ needed to correct it. No one was going to scare _him._ Someone was messing with him, his friends, and Rudy's life, and he wasn't going to accept it.

"They won't scare me off. I'm going to find him." He started to rise up, but the dizziness started to hit him hard once again. Kim and Jerry quickly sat him back down. He didn't like being restrained, but he wasn't going to complain, they probably knew best for him in this moment. "Okay, so what exactly happened to you guys?" He felt a bottle of water being pushed into his hand. He gripped it and brought it to his lips, allowing the cool liquid to soothe his aching nerves.

When he brought the water down, he noticed his friends truly for the first time. Milton looked relatively bruised up and beaten. He had a split lip and a cut above his right, purpled eye. His clothes were ripped to the point that he'd probably have to throw them away later. Eddie wasn't much better, he had some scars on his arms and tears in his shirt that appeared to be inflicted by some sort of whip. Jeremy was a little better off, despite a cut on his cheek and some bruises on his face. Kim had a bright purple bruise on her wrist, but that was about it. Immediately he reached out, tenderly touching the bruise, but growing enraged that someone would hurt her.

"Who did that to you? Who did this to all of you guys?" Kim moved her wrist behind her back and cleared her throat.

"As you can tell we were all attacked, and with the same warning…stay away from Rudy if we know what's good for us." The others didn't look amused, nor did they look intimidated. Milton, at least, did appear concerned. Jerry and Kim were the only ones that _really_ looked like they wanted to fight. "Milton got jumped while he was on a date with Julie and…she got taken."

"I would not have made it either," Milton bowed his head and clenched his fists. Jack's heart went out to his friends, he wished that he could have been there for each of them. They all looked traumatized, and for some reason, he wanted to blame himself. Yet, the true blame lay on Lonnie, who betrayed Rudy. "Bobby was walking by the store. I'd already been weakened when everything fell on top of me, so I wasn't able to fight very well…"

Bobby nodded and put his hands together. "I heard the commotion in the store, so I had to step in. He'd been ambushed by a couple guys twice his size! Poor guy would have been snapped in two if I didn't help."

Eddie jerked his thumb to his chest and let out an angry growl. "I got jumped by two girls with whips! In my own home! My little sister and dad were taken by whoever jumped Milton and everyone else!" Jack rubbed his chin and glared down at the table. The attacks _had_ to be connected, there was no doubt about it. Coincidence would make zero sense, especially since everyone had the same warning. "Whoever took them left me this note…" Eddie dropped the note in front of Jack. His eyebrows rose as his eyes scanned the words.

"Stay out of it or you'll never see your dad and sister, huh?"

"Now who has the right to decide that! I only got out of there when Jerry came by." Jack shifted his eyes to Jerry, awaiting his explanation. Jerry lowered his arms and closed his eyes.

"I was on my way to the mall, since I knew you and Kim were still here. I got jumped by a bunch of kids that usually hang in detention…they had my father…gave me the same threat, to forget about Rudy. Those punks took my Papi!" So Jerry had not been able to fend them all off either, but at least he tried his best. Eddie's home was halfway between the school and the mall, so it was good that he managed to run by there and help Eddie out. "Once we got to the mall and found Milton and Bobby here, we figured you and Kim might be in trouble too…Kim, didn't have any issues."

"I was jumped by Frank and the Black Dragons." Jack's head shot up and his fists clenched tight. He kept his calm, however, though boiling inside at their mention. Kim took her seat in front of him and exhaled. "Frank wanted me to rejoin the Black Dragons, or they were going to take _me_ prisoner and use me as leverage against you, Jack…"

"What?" He quickly stood up and smacked his hands on the table, but the minute he did that, spots appeared in his vision. He fell back to his seat and groaned. "Why…"

"Whoever's after Rudy, they're afraid of us. They're afraid of _you_. I think the Black Dragons have something to do with it, but I have no idea why. Maybe it has something to do with Sensei Ty." He groaned and shook his head.

"No…it goes way further than him. I don't know their involvement, but maybe they're the ones he told me about…" They stared at him, confused. He knew Rudy wouldn't want him telling _anyone_, but this was a matter of life or death, and these were people he trusted more than anything. "Lonnie was paid by the Black Dragons…Ty might be involved, but I don't think he's the reason for this."

"Then what, Jack? Why would the Black Dragons target Rudy?"

He leaned forward and clasped his hands together on the table, narrowing his eyes. Right now, he wanted to strangle Lonnie and throw Frank into a vat of boiling lava. "Rudy told me…now you guys _must_ keep this to yourselves. He told me that he is in the Witness Protection program…but they've forgotten about him after all these years. The police…apparently whoever's after him hasn't forgotten, though. He's Jackson Stewart, his sister was Miley Stewart, also known as Hannah Montana."

"_What_? That pop star? You're kidding!" Everyone's jaw dropped and Phil started to faint on the ground. Jack raised an eyebrow at him and lifted his shoulders.

"Yes. He said his family, and a friend, had been abducted backstage by a group of ninjas. He got away, but he's been hiding ever since. He only ever told Lonnie, and Lonnie obviously just snitched him out."

"The bastard," Jerry slammed his fist into his palm and glared through the window towards the reptile store. "So why come after us?"

"Obviously to scare him," Milton remarked. Jack waved his hand in the air and shook his head once more.

"That can't be it. I mean, they wanted _him_. They went after _us_ either because we would protect him and they wanted us out of the way, or they thought we'd try to stop them." Even if this were a matter for the police, which was the logical thing to do, he knew the police would never act fast enough. In twelve years, they _still_ hadn't found Hannah Montana, for crying out loud! "Whoever's out to get him, they just messed with the _wrong_ dojo. I say we go get them."

"Now hold on." Eddie put his hand up and started to chuckle, clearly nervous and a bit panicked. "What would we be getting ourselves into? I mean come on…obviously there's a whole bunch of-"

"They have _Rudy_." He growled and rose up, leaning his palms against the table and narrowing his glare. Eddie silenced and the others watched on with curiosity. "Not only that, but they have your family and Jerry's family. They took Milton's girlfriend, and they attempted to snag Kim!" Thankfully she could take care of herself just fine, he was almost proud and hoped to see just how bruised she made those Black Dragons. "I say…if they want us to forget Rudy. Fine. We'll 'forget' him." The others exclaimed as he crossed his arms and smirked.

"F-Forget him?" Milton asked. "Weren't you just telling us to go after these guys?"

"Oh yes. We'll go after them, we'll get our Sensei back, but if they want us to 'forget' Rudy…we'll just tell them we're taking them out to save Eddie's family, Jerry's father, your girlfriend, and I'm pretty sure that's all we have to worry about."

"One problem with this concept."

"What's that, Milton?"

"Jerry, Eddie and I are all _yellow_ belts who obviously got our asses handed to us-"

"Well you and Eddie," Jerry snickered. This earned him a smack from Milton and a glare from Eddie. "Sorry geez, it's just that I'm moving into my next belt. Either way, I think Jack has a point…we go in, grab the Sensei, find our relatives, and we get out. Make it clean…we each have a driving force, so we can do it…"

"But it's dangerous, the cops should-"

"The cops won't do anything!" Jack roared. The others jumped at his voice. He slipped from the booth and walked to the window, smacking his hand onto it and glaring out at the reptile shop across the courtyard. "They haven't even found Rudy's family in twelve years…if his sister and father are even alive, they probably don't have much longer, and I'm sure he won't have long. I don't like people getting the upper hand on me either…The cops won't find him, no one else will, that leaves us. I know it's dangerous, I know it seems stupid, but it's the only option I see!"

"What will our families say, though?" Milton meekly asked, seemingly unsure of this idea. "Not only that, but…however will we find him? How would we travel? Wouldn't we need an adult with us?"

"We'll figure it out." Jack turned and narrowed his eyes as Phil began to stand. "As for an adult, there's Bobby and Phil right there. As for the parents…" Bobby clapped his hands and Phil raised an eyebrow.

"That's easy to deal with," he stated with eagerness. "I'll just inform each of your families that you've been given the opportunity to take a Martial Arts camp and train with the great Bobby Wasabi, martial arts master!" Jack was impressed, he hadn't even thought of an idea. "As for whether or not I can actually travel around with you…I can't, but I'm sure Phil here would be happy too. Right Phil?" Bobby smacked Phil on the back, catching him in a moment of surprise.

"Uh r-right, I would be most happy to supervise your uh…caravan?" Jack let out a triumphant laugh and spun back around, grinning widely as he glared at Lonnie's store. The first thing they'd have to do, besides getting cleaned up, would be getting some answers out of that dirty snake.

"So…who's with me on this?" If they were dealing with more than just a small group, then it could be an issue, but what choice did they have in the matter? "Rudy's counting on us. Your families are in trouble, and since none of us seem to be giving in…" He turned back to face his friends and lifted his shoulders, he didn't appear to have to say the obvious. Their entire lives were at risk now _because_ they'd been involved with Rudy, and if they weren't going to give up without a fight, their families would be in trouble too. The police wouldn't bother with any of them because they weren't 'important' as compared to how important _Jackson Stewart_ had been. They weren't famous, they weren't rich, merely nobodies to the police department. "No one's going to waste witness protection on our relatives…"

"My family has more than enough protection," Jerry said with a subtle smirk. It was true, he had cousins all over, and even a small Cuban mafia network somewhere in Illinois. "But I'm in. They took my father as fuel, I'm not letting them take anyone else."

Kim moved next to Jack and put her elbow to his shoulder and shaking her head at Jerry. "I _was_ hoping to say first, but I think it goes unspoken…I'm in for the long haul." Jack applauded that and put his arm around her waist, flashing a toothy grin. Milton and Eddie rolled their eyes and smiled.

"Seeing you two kind of inspires me," Milton admitted, "They took our Sensei. They took Rudy's family, and they have Julie…if they were attempting to scare me, it worked. Yet, no one messes with those I care about. I'm in."

"Same here," Eddie replied. "If you're all going through hell, then I'm going with you!"

"All right guys." Jack tugged on his collar and glanced at the bite on his shoulder for the first time, Lonnie's lizard really did a number on him. There were two tiny dots with a blue circle and blood dripping from the wound. He'd have to get it cleaned up, and he'd be fine. He shrugged his shoulders and looked to his friends. "Glad to hear it, because like I said…the cops won't do anything for our family. So Rudy, his family, and the remaining family we have still out there in danger…we're all the Witness Protection they have. Let's do this."

* * *

I'll say, Rudy will appear in the story quite a few times, though we'll see him again in chapter 12. As for this chapter, a lot is said and a lot is decided. Hope you're liking it, tell me your thoughts.


	4. Journey Begins

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies. Oh, and any original character of mine, is mine as well. This would mean Ciara Wells-Anderson, from my original novel, is _mine_.

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 4 (Journey Begins)

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Jack stuffed some clothes into a suitcase as Kim waited behind him, she kept asking whether he truly wanted to find a way to save Rudy. The answer was clear, but he understood her concern. They knew they couldn't do this alone. "I know we've already had this talk, but Mr. Wasabi and Phil, they have a point…who knows how serious this is. I mean, what if this goes way beyond Rudy, beyond us, what if this…what if there's more than that meets the eye?"

"Then we handle whatever they can throw our way." He shut his suitcase and pulled the zipper around, grunting with effort. The bag was near overstuffed, but it had everything he needed in it, from clothes to bathroom necessities. As he rose up, he cracked his neck from side to side and turned to face Kim. "I don't know how long we'll be or how serious of a problem this is going to be, but they have Rudy…and I'm not resting until we can get him back. If you don't want to go, that's up to you, and I respect that…I'd hate to see you get hurt."

"Well…" Kim bit her lip and slowly shook her head. "I did say I was in, and I'm by your side. I just think we need someone else helping us. No offense to Milton and Eddie, they're a part of the team, but I'm worried about how well they can fight." She had a point, there was no denying that. He'd been more than worried about the two of them, and a bit worried about Jerry as well, but he was trusting them. "Also, with Falafel Phil as our 'adult guide', and Mr. Wasabi…I think we need someone else. Someone who has been there, done this sort of thing."

He wasn't sure involving anyone else would be a good idea, but Jack had learned quickly to trust Kim's instinct. If she thought someone could do a better job, then he would have to consider her suggestion. "Got any better ideas?" He thinned his lips and glanced over at her, almost challenging her to come up with someone. She put her hands behind her back and smiled slyly.

"Yes, actually…my cousin…Ciara Wells." Jack raised an eyebrow and leaned back against his bed. He'd heard the name somewhere before, but wasn't too sure where exactly. As he tried to pick his brain about the familiarity, Kim went on to explain. She leaned forward and started fixing his shirt collar. Of course, he chose today of all days to wear a disgusting olive green polo shirt. "Actually she's married now. She's twenty-five, in the military, and married. Ciara _Anderson_, but still goes by Wells on occasion. About two years ago, she and a couple other people, helped the military take out a global crime syndicate. Paragon Global…" She gleamed with pride, folding her arms over and flashing a hint of a smirk. "I bet I could talk her into helping out, she's the one that taught me martial arts…and she carries a sword with her."

Now he knew why she sounded so familiar, he heard her name on the news back then, but not much was said. That was the way the military worked, very secretive about everything. "Okay. Impressed…" 'Impressed' was vague in comparison to how he felt, but it was best to remain cool in this moment. If this cousin could help, _would _help, then that would be fantastic. "Give her a call then, tell her it's _very_ important."

"I'll do it." He was very intrigued about this cousin of hers and wanted to know more about her fight against this organization. How did she get involved in it? What was the whole reason she helped the military with it, or was she already _in_ at that point?

Jack took Kim's hand and led her towards the bed, giving her a subtle smile. "So what do you know about her fight? Was she already with the military?"

"She was entering the military. See, Paragon's leader was someone named Ginger Vlasta, and she had an issue with Ciara's and Nikki's parents." Nikki was Ciara's sister, he had that much figured from Kim saying the two were twins. "Now their boyfriends were a part of the military, and grandchildren of the General. The four of them, along with one other guy, were tasked with going inside the organization and taking out the head. They did their job, no problems. They had some problems on the way, but still, nothing to worry about."

"And you said Ciara taught you what you know about martial arts?"

"Just the basics, really…She knows what to expect with something like this. The fact that she could fight helps, wouldn't you think?" He slowly nodded and glanced up at his door. He had both a good feeling and a bad feeling circling him. What was good was hearing about Kim's cousin, but the bad feeling was telling him they needed to get moving. He furrowed his brow and slowly rose from the bed. "Is something wrong, Jack?" His eyes narrowed and he quickly looked to her.

"Something's not right. First, how long do you think it would take Ciara to get over here, if she agrees to it? We can send her Bobby's private jet." He moved over to the window and glanced down the road both ways. Kim lowered her voice to a whisper, understanding they needed to be as quiet as possible.

"She lives in Texas."

"Okay." He led his finger towards his lips, then pointed to the door. Kim pressed her back against the wall and slowly opened the door, peering through the crack. Jack rushed over, still gravely unsettled. He felt there was someone in the house, his instincts never lie. Clearly, whoever had been after them wanted to get rid of him most of all, but _why_? "See anyone out there, Kim?" Was he that much of a threat?

"No, but I thought your mom was in the kitchen with the dishes. I don't hear the water running." His father had also been watching the television, but that was no longer playing. His grandfather was also staying with them, the man had been asleep, but his snores were often heard through the walls. When he wasn't asleep, he was practicing on his own fight techniques. A dead silence wafted through the air, sending an unexplainable chill down his spine. "We should probably get out of here, Jack. That group wanted to use something against each of us, if they got your parents…"

"My parents?" Fear shot through his heart, followed closely by an intense anger. If _anyone_ touched his family, he would tear them limb by limb. "No. They can't." He opened the door fully and carefully crept out, scanning the area, and looking back to make sure Kim was close to him. Even though she could take care of herself, he still wanted her close to him, as she was not only his right hand, but the closest to his heart aside from his family. Maybe she wasn't aware of how important she was to him, but those Black Dragons had the right idea when they were going to try and take her to get to him. If they couldn't get her, the next best thing _would_ be his family.

"I don't get these people…taking the ones we care about to try and scare us? Why not just go after us directly?"

"They're scared of us, Kim. That's what I got out of the fight with Lonnie. Besides, every one of us, even _Milton_ managed to escape them. If they think they can easily kill us-"

"Killing isn't the problem." Frank's voice jarred him into shock. He turned towards the living room, freezing up. Kim remained out of sight, in case they didn't expect her there, she'd jump out and take them by shock. Frank was standing behind the couch with a proud smirk on his face. There were five Black Dragons standing beside him, with him in the middle, all with their arms folded over. On the couch, his parents and grandfather were tied up. They all gasped out through their mouth gags, all calling for him and telling him to run. "Our orders are merely to scare you into submission, Jack. If you become a problem in the future, killing _might_ be a possibility."

"Frank. You don't know what you're doing…you're going to let my family go." Frank chuckled deviously and shook his head.

"I think not." Jack arched an eyebrow as Frank snapped his fingers. He heard Kim call out and turned in time to see two ninjas stepping out from the shadows, in their hands were two sparking poles. His eyes widened as one ninja jabbed Kim in the stomach with one of the poles, then fell into that ninja's arms. "What was that? Did I hear Kim's voice? Is she back there with you?"

"You probably shouldn't have done that." Adrenaline surged through him, pumping his heart up. His muscles tightened and his jaw locked. Who to go after? He only had a second to make this decision, and knew it would affect him in the long run. If he went after his family, the ninja holding onto his unconscious friend would escape. If he fought these two ninjas off here, Frank might have his ninjas take his family from him. He clenched his fists and slid his foot along the floor, moving his eyes to the back of his sockets as the ninja behind him started whisking his pole through the air.

In the long run, he could get his family back, but he would need the help that Kim could offer. Not only could she bring her own fighting skills to the group, she was the one that had her cousin's number. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Mom, Dad, Grandpa…I'm sorry. I _will_ find you. Trust me." His family gasped just as the ninja swung the pole towards his side. Thinking fast, he grabbed the pole in both hands. "Yeah. You really shouldn't have done that."

Jack let out a fierce yell and kicked his foot through the pole. He tightened his grip and tore the broken pole from the ninja, spun around, and smacked the ninja with the two sticks. In the corner of his eyes, he saw Frank panic and order the ninjas with him to take the family. When he shifted his gaze towards the ninja with Kim, it was trying to slip towards the back door. He narrowed his eyes and begun the charge, there was no way he was letting his friend get taken out.

The ninja stared with wide eyes as Frank jumped in the air and kicked out, striking him in the left shoulder. Kim slipped from the enemy grip and fell back against the wall in an upright sitting position. Once Jack landed on his feet, both ninjas were circling him, glaring at him. He narrowed his eyes and growled from his gut.

Kim started to open her eyes, groaning out as she began to stand. Jake met her gaze with a smirk and she quickly shook off the drowsy spell from the electric shock she'd taken. She lifted her hands and bent down onto her hands, twisting her legs through the air and wrapping them around the necks of one of the ninjas. "Hit me with an electric pole…_bad idea!_" The ninja let out a scream as he went sailing through the air, pulled back by her legs. Jack's jaw dropped for the moment as he absorbed the strength she had in those legs.

Springing back to life, he performed a back kick into the right leg of the ninja behind him. He pulled his leg back just as the ninja bent down to grab his own leg. With a smirk, Jack twisted his upper body and slammed a backfist into the side of the ninja's head, slamming him into the wall.

As his ninja sank to the ground, sounds of punches and kicks landing came to his ears, followed by a loud crunching noise. He raised up an eyebrow and turned to see Kim standing above her ninja, her feet on either side of him. She lifted her head and gasped. "Jack! Your family!"

"I know…" He moved into the living room and narrowed his eyes. Frank was gone. The room was empty and cold. "We'll get them back. They're not scaring me away, they're pissing me off. At this rate, they'll _have_ to kill me instead."

"Why didn't you go after them?"

"Because I need you more at this point…" She frowned and put a hand to his shoulder, slowly shaking her head. "I didn't know you'd wake up so soon." He quickly turned and started back towards his room. With every breath he took, his anger struggled to vanish away. "I'm going to call the others to meet up at the motel down the road where those Black Dragons won't find us. While I do that, if you can call up your cousin…" He paused and quickly closed his hands, instantly remembering something he'd forgotten to consider. If they went after _his_ family, then the enemy went after someone in everyone's family besides Kim's. He quickly turned to her, meeting her glance with his anxious gaze. "Kim. Your family, we need to make sure they're safe."

"They are, don't worry. Nobody knows where my dad's at right now, he's been on a trip."

"I hope you're right, because I think this goes farther than Frank's small group. Black Dragons…they're literally everywhere. Hell, there's at least one Black Dragon on the bodyguard team for every celebrity and rich person out there, so if your dad's not careful, he could be captured. Do you know where he is?"

"Yeah, he took a business trip to Australia." Her father was an archeologist, so it made sense that he had to travel the globe frequently. Sadly enough, it meant he wasn't always around. "He'll be safe…"

"All right. Then I'll call the others, can you call up your cousin?"

"I'll do it right now. What about those ninjas in the hallway?" He entered his bedroom with a scoff and grabbed up his luggage. Beside his suitcase was a duffel bag, which he hoisted over his shoulder.

"Leave them, they won't wake before we're gone." She nodded and pulled out her phone. Within minutes, they were leaving the home. Jack looked back at his house with a wistful glance, he would miss this place on his travels. His family came to mind, causing his heart to sink down into the muck. "I'll find you. All of you. I promise…there's no giving up."

Kim hung up her phone and shoved it back into her pocket. "Ciara says she'll come tomorrow, we just have to make sure Bobby gets his jet over there."

"Good. No offense to Phil, but the minute he becomes a liability, we're all in trouble. So with your cousin, at least…it's progress."

* * *

The action will be picking up pretty soon


	5. First Steps

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 5 (First Steps)

The motel room Bobby rented out for the group was a bit larger than necessary, considering the group likely wouldn't remain there for very long. He understood the purpose, though. Including Phil, there were about six of them, with Bobby checking in on them from his own home. There were three full size beds with one small air mattress that Jack had stuffed away for himself. The room was large, the walls painted white, matching the desert brown carpet. The bathroom even had a bathtub with jets, which Eddie was taking full advantage of.

Jerry and Milton were on the middle bed, watching the flat screen television, set on one of Bobby Wasabi's movies. Jack couldn't find the interest in it. Phil was busy vacuuming his bed, which was closest to the wall. Since he had to share it with Eddie, both of whom were disgusted by this fact, he wanted to make sure it was clean. Eddie had the habit of snacking while in the bed and getting crumbs _everywhere_. Kim was on the bed closest to the window, she was reclining back and reading some book. Jack lay back on the air mattress, which he positioned neatly between the window and Kim's bed. He was tossing a ball in the air and staring absently at the ceiling above him. "When is your cousin showing up, Kim?" She lowered her book and smiled at him.

"Soon…Bobby's going to pick her up when his jet lands." Milton had packed his laptop with him and looked up the whole Paragon Global thing. His research provided excellent information for them. Paragon had been led by Ginger Vlasta, as Kim said, but they also had about eight other captains, each with a lieutenant of their own, and sectors of their own. What troubled Jack was simple, the fact that each captain in that group had been located one per country. If this were true about Paragon, he wondered if the group that had Rudy would have the same setup. If so, they would be criss-crossing the globe, and he was _not_ enjoying that fact. The military clamed full responsibility for ridding the world of that dark presence, but who would guess there could be another dark presence just waiting below.

"What could be their purpose?" He whispered.

"Did you say something, Jack?" His brow furrowed and he slowly sat up, stretching out his arms and yawning. The others looked to him, each waiting for him to say something. He shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair.

"I was just thinking. What if it's true to think there's something more to this than just a small group…what if we're talking about a worldwide group?" The color drained from Milton's face and Phil immediately shut off his handheld vacuum. Jack stood from his mattress and moved over to the television, shutting it off. "We need information, but we have nothing. How the hell are we supposed to save Rudy and the others if we know nothing about the people that have him?"

"Well we know the Black Dragons are somehow involved," Jerry pointed out. Jack folded his arms over and slowly nodded. "I don't know if they're the main people or not, but maybe if we see Lonnie…he might tell us something more. We would just have to convince him."

"Right, but if we all show up at his shop…would that be a risk?" It wasn't too much to assume the Black Dragons would be there at his shop, so if all of them showed up and were overpowered, then they'd be screwed. They needed someone that wouldn't be recognized. "If we're to find anything out from Lonnie, we need someone that can be intimidating _and_ unrecognizable to the Black Dragons. They know who _we_ are, and Lonnie's shop _has_ to be guarded by them."

In an instant, the door opened and Jack sprang into his fighter stance. When he saw Bobby walking in with his jolly expression, he relaxed. Following Bobby was Kim's cousin, Ciara. The woman was tall, limber, and had blonde hair that brushed her shoulders and framed her olive shaped face. She had chocolate eyes that gazed out from under her blonde bangs. She had a long sleeved red v-neck button up shirt with black pants and a belt with a long sheath attached to it. The sheath was decorated with a flame insignia, the hilt of her sword had black tape wrapped around it and her name embroidered on the side.

Kim immediately jumped up from her bed and ran over. "Ciara!" The woman smiled at her and shared a hug. The guys rose up and Eddie walked out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist. Upon seeing Ciara and Bobby, Eddie screamed and ran back into the bathroom. Kim turned around and grinned. "Guys, this is Ciara, my cousin. She's really my second cousin, since I'm a kid of one of her first cousins."

"Good to meet you," Ciara said with a soft, motherly voice. Jack wondered if she was a mother, considering she was married. "I was told you guys needed someone with a little experience. I'll be happy to help out, but I might be a little rusty. I still have my moves, but I do have three kids, that messes with the body sometimes."

"Either way, we can use all the help we can get," Jack replied appreciatively. "I'm glad you're able to help out. We were just discussing our next step." He paused when Eddie came walking from the bathroom fully dressed. "Good to see you're done in there, Eddie."

"Right, sorry about that," Eddie chuckled, "I forgot we were expecting someone." Jack raised an eyebrow and shook his head, surely no one else in the room wanted to see Eddie in a towel either. "So I heard you talking about intimidating Lonnie. How are we going to do that?"

"Yeah…as I was saying…" He turned to Ciara and cleared his throat. "I think Bobby told you everything on the way over, right?" She nodded and leaned against the wall. "Well, we don't know if this group is just small or if they're part of a worldwide thing, like Paragon was. In any case, we have to keep going until we save Rudy…and our families…but we don't know anything about them. We don't even know if the Black Dragons are just involved on the side, or if they're _the_ group. We were going to intimidate Lonnie, but he's likely guarded by Frank and the Black Dragons, so in order to get _any_ information from him…someone has to go in unnoticed."

"They recognize all of you?" Ciara asked. Kim nodded and Jack scratched at his neck. "The Black Dragons do sound familiar, and I'm not sure if I didn't fight a few of them when I was in Japan going against Naomi." Naomi Reiko was one of the captains in Paragon, she was also a lover of fire. She perished when Ciara's husband, Chance, burned her with her own flamethrower. That much he knew from what Kim told him of her cousins' adventures. "You are going to need to find someone who has the Intel on the group. If the Black Dragons _are_ your adversaries, you need to know everything about them."

"How do we do that?"

Jerry raised a hand, "That's where I come in." Everyone looked at him, hoping he had something of a good idea. "I have some family in Chicago in the mob business. They have a way of finding anything out. If there's anyone that can find information about the group, they'll know."

"Good." Jack felt a hint of pride for his friend, it was times like these that he could really appreciate Jerry's ingenuity. He looked at the others, giving them a quick nod of his head. "Then when we find out who the group is, if the Black Dragons are the main group, we'll have Jerry contact his family."

"So your first step?" Ciara asked. Jack looked at her with raised eyebrows, he thought maybe she could tell them what to do. "You're the leader, everyone's following you. I'm just the adult supervisor with the advice."

"I understand. Thank you. Our first step, intimidating Lonnie…Ciara, would you help with that?" Seeing as how Lonnie and the others probably _didn't_ know who she was, she could easily infiltrate the shop and get some answers from him.

"I would be happy to."

"Okay good. What do you recommend we do with these guys?"

"Plan of action? Well, what were you initially considering?"

"Diving in might be bad." She raised an eyebrow and pushed from the wall. Ciara sighed heavily and crossed her arms.

"Now that would be. If you just dive in guns blazing, you'll lose. No matter how good of a fighter you are, you can be overpowered, especially if people start to expect you. My sister wanted to go from base to base and just charge in to take them all out, but if we did that, Ginger could have easily predicted our movements. Base-hopping is probably the worst thing you can do."

"So we strategize," Milton belted.

"Yes. Wherever you go, whatever you do, strategize. Also…something we learned to do that you'll have to do, assuming this is something big like Paragon was. _Relax_, don't just continuously fight or else you will wear yourself out. Try to rest, the bad guys aren't going anywhere. If you rest, you can reenergize and plan further." Jack understood that point well. He didn't like it, but he knew it was necessary. "Try to remember, it could be a long time before you see Rudy or any of your families, but never give up hope."

"Got it…" Jack began pacing, trying to think hard about what was going on. There was nothing for them to do at this point besides going after the lizard guy. After that, they would have to contact Jerry's family in Chicago and _wait_. However long it would be until they figured anything out, he didn't know, but they likely had no other choice.

"Speaking of the Black Dragons!" Bobby lifted a small round device, proclaiming loudly above the others. Jack rubbed his chin and narrowed his eyes at the device. Jerry's eyes lit up with recognition, as did Kim's. In an instant he realized what he was looking at, a device that he'd seen with Izzy Gunnar. Kim said something about Ricky Weaver having a similar object. "One of the Black Dragons came to my home and handed me this. The instant I touched it, something pricked me."

"Really? What is it?" Milton hopped over and took the object, staring at it carefully. Jack moved over as well, studying it. It was a circular metal device about the size of a person's fist. The circumference was around the size of someone's palm, but it could be enclosed within a large hand. It had tiny holes that lined the sides and a hole on the very center. There appeared to be an LED light on the top beside the hole, but the light wasn't on, and there were no buttons.

"A small needle came out, I barely felt anything. When I looked, blood was being sucked in one of the holes, that's only when I noticed what happened. I couldn't get it open, and I can't figure out what this light thing is for, since there isn't anything to light it up."

"I can study this. I'm sure I can find a way to open it and figure out what exactly it's supposed to do. No needles are coming out though." Milton dropped the object onto the ground, but it did not shatter. He hummed and carefully picked up the object. "Needles must have been a one-time thing. If it's unable to break, I'll have to think of a way to get it open. Jack, you think there's a reason to mess with it?" Jerry let out a grunt and put his hand to Jack's shoulder, staring at the object.

"Jack, you remember Izzy Gunnar? He had the same looking type of object."

"Ricky Weaver had it too," Kim marveled. Jack hummed and narrowed his eyes. This was a good find, but was there a true connection? Just because Ricky and Izzy had something like it, and Bobby was handed one, did that mean anything significant?

"Three people so far, something tells me it's not just coincidence, but I don't know. Izzy and Ricky are singers, Bobby's an actor. All three are entertainers." He carefully took the object and rested it on his palm. As he turned it over, he saw tiny initials engraved into the bottom. "B.D. Could stand for Black Dragons…and one of them handed this to Mr. Wasabi. Milt, if you can crack this baby open and find out what's inside…see what makes it kick…it'll be a big help."

"I'm on it."

"Great." So far all they had was a strange object that took Bobby's blood, but to Jack, it was just a clue to something more. Anything that got him a step closer to saving Rudy was beneficial. He narrowed his eyes and smirked slightly. "Next step, getting Lonnie…We'll do this tomorrow, since Ciara just got here. You're probably tired, right?" Ciara shrugged her shoulders and put her arm around Kim's shoulders. Kim smiled up at her and nestled close.

"It's been a while since I've seen Kimberly, so I could use some time with her." Kim blushed at her full name and playfully jabbed Ciara in the side.

"Don't tell them my full name. It makes me look girly." The others laughed, which only made her blush further. Jack could only smile at her, he wasn't in a teasing mood, but he already _knew_ her full name as it was. "Anyway, I have _so much_ to tell you, Ciara!" Kim turned around and led Ciara out of the motel room. Milton used this opportunity to take the strange device and move over to his bed. Jack walked over to him, wanting to see if he could come up with anything. Jerry returned to the movie, joined by Eddie, and Phil continued to vacuum and sweep his bed from crumbs.

* * *

So we're on the discovery of a very odd device, and it looks like it's being given to celebrities. Which almost every celebrity has at least one B.D. on their bodyguard team, wonder what it is. Stick around.


	6. Point of No Return

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 6 (Point of No Return)

The next morning, Jack and the others waited in the motel room, watching through Milton's laptop as Ciara walked through the mall. They set up a small camera to Ciara's jacket and connected it wirelessly through the computer. Her job right now was only to take Lonnie and bring him to them, nothing more, and nothing less. If she could successfully intercept him and get him away from the Black Dragons, everything would go smoothly.

The computer was on the wooden table beside the window. Jack was seated with his hands resting flat on either side of the computer. Kim, Eddie, and Jerry were surrounding him. Milton was on the edge of his bed, still studying the strange device. He _still_ had been unable to find a way to get it open. Phil and Bobby had gone to the motel's pool so they could sit in the hot tub a while, then Bobby was going to head back to his home, but would leave the disk with the group.

"Are you sure she should have her sword with her?" Eddie asked, nudging Kim. Jack turned over his shoulder, wondering the same thing. Kim stood straight and lifted her shoulders.

"She says that sword _never_ leaves her side. She sleeps with that sword close by. The one time she was without her sword and caught in an ambush, she was nearly killed." Jack hummed and returned to the camera as Eddie carefully nodded his head.

"Ah. Got it…So what, she can fight like a whole group of guys with her sword, but without it?" Kim turned her head from side to side, humming thoughtfully.

"She said that with her sword, she can keep going on and on because she combines her martial arts skills with her swordplay. Though without her sword, especially _now_, she can only handle so much…She's not as good a fighter as she used to be, since Ginger gave her an injury to her leg that gives her a limp. She's still amazing, but without her sword, I think she could handle about five or six people on her own before caving in. Not quite as good as Jack. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah."

"Okay enough," Jack lifted his hand and the others quieted down. He wanted to remind them they needed to keep their attention on the computer screen. "Let's focus on Ciara here. Someone should have gone down there in case she needed backup, you know." He had faith that she could handle this mission, but he still hated anyone working alone. The fact that she was _Kim's_ cousin didn't help matters much, but he didn't let his interest in Kim affect his judgment. "Look, she's in."

Ciara waltzed into the shop with a cool smirk on her face. She nodded to the two Black Dragons guarding the door, earning a nod back. She kept her gaze away from the lizards and snakes around the shop and hoped they stayed in their cases. She hated reptiles, especially after her fight in Egypt with the psycho snake loving woman. Said woman died being bitten by one of her own snakes.

As she scanned the shop, she didn't see a single customer, just people in red Black Dragon uniforms. There were about eight of them, not counting the two at the door. She hummed to herself and met Lonnie's eyes. Lonnie did a double take when he saw her, practically jumped his counter, and rushed over to her while holding onto his favorite lizard. She shuddered inwardly and held a peaceful smile. "How may I help you?" He asked, smoothing his hair down and wagging his eyebrows. Instantly, she was disgusted by this man, but she still had to keep true to her act.

"I want some advice on keeping a komodo dragon as a pet…" Was that even possible? She didn't care. Lonnie smiled and started bouncing. "How much do you know about lizards?"

"I know everything there is! Say…Maybe you'd like to talk reptiles over coffee?" She started to wince and closed her eyes. The things she did to get ahead, but of course, she wasn't going to do anything that would be harmful for her marriage.

"Sure…but _just_ talk. Got it?"

"Oh yes." He wagged his eyebrows again and she quickly turned around. She narrowed her eyes at the Black Dragons in the area, they didn't intimidate her, but she did want to get away from them. How else was she supposed to intercept him? It would likely be easier than she originally thought, considering he appeared attracted to her. "I know a great shop in the mall."

"I hate malls. Let's go elsewhere?" Lonnie gasped and circled around to her front, smiling and nodding his head.

"Oh yes! That'll work, whatever you want!"

"I'm staying at this motel…visiting the state."

"Lead the way." She lifted her hand and put it against his chest, chuckling softly as she leaned forward and whispered into his ear.

"Alone…these guys around your shop are a bit intimidating." Lonnie whimpered and sighed in some weird, giddy tone. She was glad he was an idiot, at least. "Bear in mind though, we're _only _talking lizards, I won't do anything to blemish my reputation. Got that, lizard man?" The words rolled off her tongue, causing him to shudder and melt.

"Okay."

Jack lifted his eyebrows and glanced at Kim in shock. She smirked at him and put her hands on her hips. "Attractiveness and cunning _does_ run in my family, thank you very much." He returned to the screen, laughing inwardly as he watched Lonnie getting into Ciara's rental car. There were _no_ Black Dragons following.

"Okay guys, when they get here, everyone hide in that bathroom. We'll all come out and tackle him if need be." This would probably be the simplest thing they did, and why wouldn't it be? Anything after this had to be difficult, only because they'd be getting more involved in this group. The closer they got to finding Rudy, the more dangerous things were going to become. He _wanted_ there to be a better option than throwing his friends in danger, but he'd already made peace with his decision. They had no other choice, and working together, he had faith they could do this.

After some time, Ciara and Lonnie made it to the motel room. Jack and the others piled into the bathroom, listening as the door opened and closed. They heard Ciara's voice and Lonnie's voice. The lizard was apparently being put on the bed closest to the wall, which disgusted Eddie, but it was probably Phil who would suffer most.

When they heard Lonnie shout, Jack pushed open the door and led everyone from the bathroom. Lonnie was on the bed, Ciara was standing with her foot up on his leg and her sword drawn and pointed at his chest. She was glaring at him, clearly pissed. "What part of 'keep your hands to yourself' did I not make clear!" Ciara shouted. Kim cried out and rushed over, putting her hand to Ciara's wrist.

"Ciara, it's all right, everything's fine." Lonnie screamed when he saw the others. A sly grin grew on Jack's face as he walked towards him.

"Weren't expecting us, were you, Lonnie?" The man began whimpering as Jack pointed to the lizard. "Jerry. Grab the lizard." Jerry did as instructed and Lonnie squirmed beneath Ciara's blade.

"No!" Lonnie screamed. "Don't hurt my precious baby! Please!"

"We're not going to hurt him, or her, or whatever it is." Jack grabbed Lonnie's shirt collar and pulled him up. Ciara withdrew her blade, but kept it drawn. "However Lonnie, _you're_ going to tell _us_ what you know. See, I'm still a bit angry with what you did to Rudy. Betrayal is a painful thing, now _where is he! _Who has him? Who are you working for?"

"I don't know. I'm not telling you anything." Jack raised an eyebrow and sighed, dropping Lonnie onto the bed.

"Fine. We're only on the ground floor, window opens…Jerry?" Lonnie's eyes widened as Jerry walked towards the window. Eddie and Milton rushed over and started opening it.

"What? What are you doing?"

"Well, if you don't tell us what we need to know in order to get our families back, we're setting your lizard free. I think she deserves to be free." Lonnie started to scream and rush forward, but Kim and Ciara held him back. Jack shook his head and sighed. "We're not going to hurt you, we're not going to hurt the lizard, but we will set it free."

"Please! She_ needs_ me! I-I'll tell you anything! Whatever it is you want to know!" He snapped his fingers and Jerry pulled the lizard away from the window. Lonnie whimpered and started to fall to his knees, holding his hands in prayer form. "The Black Dragons! They're the ones, they used me to get close to Rudy! Sensei Ty, he saw an article about the missing Stewart family and thought a picture of that Jackson kid looked like Rudy." Jack growled and clenched his fists tight. His chest burned with his anger, but he could hardly speak.

"Is he the one responsible for Rudy's disappearance?" Ciara asked. Jack turned his back to Lonnie and crossed his arms, glaring up at the ceiling. Once Lonnie hesitated, Jerry started to move the lizard toward the window, making him scream out and talk.

"No!" Jerry pulled the lizard back and Lonnie sighed, still eyeing his pet with a growing fear. "No, Ty is only a member of a sector. I don't know much, but I know the Black Dragons group _is_ a worldwide group. They're everywhere, all over the globe, and they're up to _something_. I just don't know what it is." Jack put his hands to his hips and turned his gaze to the strange metal device. He narrowed his glare and turned to Lonnie, studying him for a minute.

"You're just a patsy aren't you?" He asked. Lonnie whimpered as Jack moved another step closer to him. "All you know is what you were told. It makes sense the Black Dragons wouldn't tell you anything."

"It's true. I don't know where they're holding Rudy or your families. I have no idea who is in charge. I know Ty answers to someone, who answers to an even higher boss, but that's it. All they wanted from me was to get close to Rudy. That's _it_. I know they're afraid of you, all of you, they know what you're capable of. The high guy might not be afraid of you, but at least Sensei Ty's group is, and now that you're involved…you won't find him. He's hiding off somewhere. Just _please_ give me back my pet! That's all I know! I promise you!"

Lonnie began to weep. Jack took a deep breath and looked over to Jerry, who was awaiting orders. He could see Lonnie was being honest, and the man was terrified enough as it was. He got the information he needed to know, that the Black Dragons were the international group behind what happened to Rudy and the families. They weren't going to get the location of where anyone was from Lonnie, the Black Dragons wouldn't possibly trust vital information like that to someone like him.

"Okay. That's all we're getting from him…Jerry, give him the lizard, and then…" He moved over to the table and took a seat as Ciara dragged Lonnie over to Jerry. Lonnie took his pet and began crying.

"Daddy's here baby. Oh Daddy's here." Lonnie lifted his head and glared angrily at the group. "It won't matter what you do! I promise! The Black Dragons will rub you out, all of you! They have you at an advantage, they have your families! You'll never-" Ciara and Kim grabbed Lonnie and he began screaming once more. "What are you _doing!_"

"Hold on tight," Ciara growled. Jerry grabbed Lonnie's legs, then helped toss him out of the window and onto the ground. Lonnie quickly rose to his feet, holding onto the lizard, and started to scream as the others slammed the window shut. Jack watched as he started running off and slowly shook his head.

"He's right, guys. They do have an advantage over us." The others frowned at him, and as much as he hated it, he had to be honest. If they were careless, they could endanger the people already taken. "We cannot afford to be reckless with their lives. We don't know how far the Black Dragons are willing to go. They have Rudy, they have our families, and obviously…" He looked to Milton, who was back to trying to crack open the strange device. "If Bobby, Izzy, and Ricky all have that same device, it might be safe to assume other singers and actors might have it. If so, we need to figure out what the hell it is for, and fast. If they're planning something, _we_ need to gain the upper hand. As of right now, there is no longer any going back…if you're with me, you're with me, if not…go home now."

"I'm still with you," Kim replied. He was happy to hear this, although still he was worried for her safety. The Black Dragons had tried more than once to use her through him, still failed, but how often would they try to use her or the others to scare him into submission? They had to be his first thought now. "I think I speak for all of us when I say we're not leaving your side in this. Rudy was our mentor too, and the others still have their relatives who were taken…"

"Okay then." Pride filled him as he rose and put his arm around her waist. The others surrounded him and started putting their hands forward. He rested his hand on top of theirs and smirked. "Until the end, we'll fight. Let's do this. No turning back."

* * *

Hope you liked the chapter, tell me your thoughts.


	7. Unshakeable

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 7 (Unshakeable)

Jack stood at the window of their new motel room, they had to switch places due to their bringing Lonnie to the place. They didn't want to run the risk of him telling the Black Dragons of their location. His jaw grew firm and his hands clenched tight, his blood boiled as the look in his family's eyes burned into his memory. To think the Black Dragons had the gall to take _his_ family, to think that they would believe they could try to take _Kim_ from him. To _think_ that they would take _his_ teacher! No. He wasn't taking this sitting down, and the Black Dragons were wrong to believe they could make him stand down. If only he could, he'd charge in there and take them all out single handedly.

The door behind him opened and he studied the faded reflection on the window. It was dark out, everyone else was at the indoor pool and hot tub. In the reflection, he could see the group's 'advisor' or 'guide', Ciara. "Are you not going to join Kim and the others at the pool? It is important that you relax." Relax? How could he _relax_?

"No offense, but what good is relaxing at a time like this." Rudy often said relaxation was crucial in a fight, but he didn't really understand that. Why relax when it was time to fight? "They have my family, they have our teacher, and for some reason that I can't quite understand, they'd _like_ to use Kim against me." Well she could handle herself just fine, he wasn't worried about them getting to her, considering she would kick their asses at any time. "You're telling me to _relax_? I'm tense, it's natural. There's no way in hell I can relax! You know, Kim and I were supposed to have our first date, we still haven't."

"You still can." He turned and watched Ciara remove her sword and sheath from her waist. What was she doing? She closed her eyes and extended her arms. "Come at me, Jack." Was she joking? She wanted him to fight her? Here? Ciara slowly opened her eyes and raised an eyebrow. "Strike me. I guarantee you can't."

"I'm not going to fight you, are you serious?"

"I'm dead serious. Imagine I'm the one that has Rudy, imagine I'm the one that took your family. Or better yet, imagine I'm Frank. Let me tell you, I play a mean game of role play." He narrowed his eyes as she mimicked a cold smirk. "Come on Jackie-boy, what are you going to do?" She was trying to mimic Frank, and oddly, she was doing a good job.

His blood started to boil, mostly due to his annoyance at the moment. His muscles were tense, his face tight. With a loud yell, he charged for her. He saw her sidestepping, but mentally, he couldn't react to it like he normally would. Instead, he let her sweep past him. She brought her arm down and smacked her sheath into his back, causing him to tumble forward. He screamed and put his hands forward, landing on the ground.

Suddenly he felt Ciara's knuckles barely touching to his spine, a sure sign that an enemy could easy snap his spine if he wasn't careful. "What the hell!" He must have been sitting there on the ground in a state of total shock. He quickly rolled out of the way and sprang up, glaring at Ciara. He thumbed the sweat from his nose and narrowed his eyes. "That did _not_ just happen."

"It just happened." His eyes became red and his chest heaved with each angry breath that left his lips. "Anger clouds the mind, Jack. Rage, revenge, hatred…these are the things you need to let go of."

"Screw that. That's what's driving me!"

"Is it?" He charged for her again, throwing a fist at her chest. To his astonishment, she crouched down out of the way. "You're open." She pulled her right hand back and swiftly threw it forward, flicking her fingers out and striking him in the abdomen just below his ribcage. His eyes widened and he fumbled to think of a reaction. "Normally what I would do in this situation is probably try to jump back and perform an air kick or a downward punch into the opponent's head. You're thinking too hard on your movements and thinking too hard on _why_ you're losing."

"Losing?" The next thing he knew, she'd grabbed his wrist and sent him flying through the air onto the bed. _This_ was the same woman that taught Kim the basics? She was good, but he could do better. He slowly pushed himself up and looked back in time to see her swinging the sheath down upon his back, sending him back down onto the bed. "Ouch…"

"Again. You're _open_. Your movements and fighting should be fluid."

"They usually are."

"No excuses! Get up." He rolled off the bed and landed on his feet. As he bent up, he swept his hand through his hair and growled. What was he doing wrong? "Now _relax_. Clear up your mind." He bared his teeth and crossed his arms.

"How exactly do I do that?"

"You said your driving force was your anger. Why is that? The angrier you are, the tenser you become. As this happens, you become less aware of your surroundings, making easier for people to do this…" She lifted her sheath and brought it to his neck, tapping it gently. "If you were more aware, you could catch that, no matter how fast it is. I know you can, because from what I've heard Kim tell me, and what your friends out there are saying, you're the best fighter. Right now, you're not showing me what they're all talking about."

"Usually I'm not this upset."

"You have every right to be upset." She moved her sheath back and breathed in a slow inhale. "However, if you don't know how to direct it, and how to calm yourself down, then it's going to kill you. Several instances right there, I could have dealt a crushing blow, all blows that _you_ could have avoided. You're thinking too much about getting revenge, about being angry, and not focusing on what it is you want to accomplish."

"What do you want from me?" He started walking, circling around her, and watching her hang that sheath beside her leg. "Rudy…My family…my friends' families, and I'm also watching over my friends while I'm at it. You expect me not to be stressed?" He still studied that sheath, expecting another blow from it. Instead, Ciara reached over and smacked him upside the head with her free hand. He yelped and recoiled, glaring as she shook her head in his direction.

"Good, expecting an attack from the sheath. You're forgetting your lessons though, aren't you? Don't watch one part, watch the entire body. When you're expecting an attack from the front, look to the back."

"Look to the back? For a frontal attack…"

"Yes. The enemy can attempt to psyche you out. You should already know this, it's basic martial arts."

"I _know_." He didn't just forget everything he ever learned, it was all there, but for some reason he had a mental block of some sort. "Maybe I'm afraid of something going wrong. My friends are following me, what do I do if something happens to one?"

"You believe Kim can handle herself, right?"

"Yes."

"Jerry too?" He thought about that for a second, and slowly nodded his head. Each of them had been able to hold their own in drastic times before. "When the time comes, every single one of your friends can bring out their strength. They have confidence, they relax, and they trust one another. They're equals, they're your equals. Your strength isn't necessarily gauged by the color of your belts, it's gauged by your spirit, confidence, and ability to overcome. They rely on you as much as you should rely on them. There will come a time that you'll need help and they'll have to save your ass, and vice versa. By allowing yourself to be filled with rage, anger, vengeance, you're allowing yourself to become a liability. By becoming a liability, you're putting yourself and your friends in that same danger that you're already worrying about."

He huffed for a second and moved his eyes leftward as she began circling him. "Your pride was hurt when Lonnie showed up, most likely. I can see that, you have a lot of pride and stubbornness, Kim tells me enough of that." He raised an eyebrow, unsure if it was a good thing that Kim talked about him. "Now she's a cousin of mine, so I have a lot of care for her, even more than you do. If you can't fight properly, then you're going to put her in danger, and I do not want her in any danger."

"I won't put her, or the others, in danger…" He was putting the pieces together in his mind, remembering the things that Rudy and his grandfather had told him over time. Ciara was right, he was letting his anger eat him up. He needed to put that off to the side, to relax.

"Are you sure about that? Because what I'm seeing right now is how that guy that keeps showing up, Frank, is going to tear you down."

"That _won't_ happen."

"Then strike me, Jack. Take a deep breath. Inhale, exhale, and _fight_. Freeing your mind of that anger, relaxing your body, is the only way you're going to be able to move fluidly and strike with the fierceness that I keep hearing about. Don't be afraid of what's to come, you've already made your decision to fight these people. Do you think you can take them."

"I know I can."

"Do you have faith in your friends?"

"Yes."

"Can you be shaken?"

"No!" He barked out his confidence and slid into his fight stance. "I can do this."

"Then stop thinking about how the Black Dragons gained the upper hand, stop entertaining the thoughts that make you angry, clear your mind, and make it your goal to save your mentor. Without thinking about getting revenge, without thinking about one upping _them_, simply focus on that goal that you share with the others. Breathe in to calm yourself and breathe out that excess baggage. Can you?"

"I can." He closed his eyes and slowly breathed in. His mind flashed through Lonnie and those ninjas sneaking up on them at Phil's. He recalled Frank and his goons taking his family and trying to ambush him. Opting out of anger, he slowly breathed out, pushing the thoughts away. He visualized Rudy, his family, and all of the captives. He visualized standing beside them, leading them out safely.

His muscles started to loosen and he visualized himself standing on air, floating and moving like a river. "Then show me what you have, Jack." Something began whistling through the air towards his right, he threw his left hand over his chest and caught what felt like Ciara's sheath just before it struck him. He opened his eyes and snapped his right palm downward against her forearm, deflecting an oncoming strike.

With a swift movement, he pulled the sheath back, bringing her towards him, then brought his right leg up, kicking forward. She put her free hand at her chest, allowing his foot to kick her palm and send her back against the bed. He raised his foot high above his head and started to bring it down, Ciara smirked and rolled out of the way. She spun off the bed and landed behind him. In an instant, they both twisted around and punched back, snapping their wrists together. Their eyes locked in deadly combat and their lips both curved into deep smirks.

"Not bad, Jack. Not bad at all. I'm starting to see just a little of what they talk about."

"I won't let anything happen to my friends, I know they'll do the same for me. I'm going to get Rudy, and our families, no matter what it takes."

"I like the determination, the fire. Keep that, and remember to relax. Sometimes you need to let loose as well, constant fighting will only tense you up further." She withdrew her fist and attached her sheath back to the belt on her hip. He lowered his arm and stood strong, breathing in deep. He was fully aware of his surroundings. He was, unshakeable. "They look to you as their leader. Each of you has something to bring to the table, use your skills. Know your opponent sure, but know your team as well. Know your limits, don't overdo yourself. You want to know why I say to take a break and try to pace yourself?"

"Why?"

"Fight after fight, you're working your body and your endurance. It's like working out, you're pushing yourself. If you don't pause between workouts, what happens?"

"You become sore, you become weaker…"

"Exactly. Why do bodybuilders, for example, take a couple days off in the week?"

"To let their bodies rest…continuous workout would rub their muscles raw."

"Exactly! Now…How about hitting the pool with your friends? They're waiting for you down there. Jerry has already contacted his cousin in Seattle about the Black Dragons, right now we're just waiting for his family to call back."

He smiled and glanced towards the door. Jerry was the scrappy one in the group with family in the mafia, those relatives of his have their ways of finding information. Eddie was the tank in the group, he may not be the strongest fighter, but his spirit kept him going. He could take abuse, and he had a nose for direction as well. He wouldn't need a compass to figure out where to go. Milton, obviously had the brains. So what if he was the weakest of the group, his brains made him strong, he could figure out any equation put in front of him. Kim was his right hand, she was strong, but also the compassionate and the one with the cunning intuition. If her gut feeling was to take a turn into a dark cave rather than a clear path, then it would be a cave they'd go through. Then there was Ciara, their guide and expert. Phil wasn't the best for that, he wasn't a fighter and not very bright, but at least he could cook. Bobby Wasabi wasn't around as much, he had his acting to take care of, but with a single phone call, he could disperse some help their way through some of his own Wasabi ninjas.

To know his team was key, and he wouldn't doubt them at all, he had faith in every single person there. None of them were technically 'weak'. "You're wrong about one thing, Ciara." She raised an eyebrow as he started for the door, heading out to the pool. After opening it up, he paused in the doorway and looked back with a subtle smirk. "_I'm_ not the unshakable one. Truth is, I'd probably go down fighting a giant group alone, but with my friends…all of us combined, _we_ are unshakeable." She smirked back and started past him, patting his shoulder.

"That's what I like to hear."

* * *

What do you think of the lesson learned here?


	8. Duty Calls

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 8 (Duty Calling)

The hot tub soothed him deep to his core, providing heat that made him sink so low that the rushing bubbles massaged his jaw. Jack was thankful for Ciara convincing him to come down to the pool, though he did have to go back to grab the towel and swim suit. He'd always been more of a hot tub person than a pool person, mostly due to the fact that he could sit and act as though he were in a spa.

Currently he had his elbows up on the edge of the tub and was leaning his head back, closing his eyes and visualizing himself in a sauna. His sweat and water drenched hair clung tightly to his skin and his body vibrated with the water. The sounds of his friends laughing and splashing water about in the pool seemed to echo throughout the area. He slowly opened his eyes and glanced to one of the reclining pool chairs towards the entrance, Ciara was sitting there with a book of some sort. Her idea of relaxation, she wasn't even getting in the pool and having fun! He'd be one to talk, considering he wasn't in there with his friends.

Bobby had gone back to his mansion of course, telling them to call him if they needed him to send out a band of ninjas to assist. Phil was busy sitting in the corner of the room, mulling over the fact that he missed his goat. Hopefully Phil could find it within himself to move on, there _were_ greater things at risk here.

He swept his hands across the water, breathing out his joy at having the entire tub to himself. Of course, when he showed up, he did ask if anyone else was interested in the hot tub. Milton was the one to complain about it being a 'cesspool of bacteria', which of course couldn't be the case. Eddie and Jerry were having too much fun with water guns they'd found at the bottom of the pool, and Kim had just been wading about.

The sound of water dripping onto the concrete floor attracted his attention to the pool where Kim was climbing out. His eyes grew as he scanned her beautiful figure. She was wearing a two piece black swimsuit. The bra bikini had a flame coming from the bottom, and dare he check to see if the lower part matched. He heard someone clear their throat and quickly looked to Ciara, possibly checking to make sure he wasn't staring at her cousin. His cheeks burned and Kim only laughed.

"Don't mind her, she's just protective," Kim remarked on her way over. She flipped her hair over her shoulder and carefully put her foot into the hot tub, yanking it out in an instant. She scowled at the water and flicked her gaze over to him. "Damn Jack, how hot do you have to have it?" He chuckled and shifted his body to the right for her to have some more space to enter.

"I like it warm. The hotter the better."

"So…_boiling_ then?" She took a deep breath and quickly entered the hot tub. He raised an eyebrow as she slid herself over to him. His arm draped around her shoulders while she looked over to the pool. "You know, once they start getting the water guns, it's time to get out of the pool. I'd rather avoid getting caught in the middle of those three boys and their guns."

"Fair enough." He looked at the three with yearning, he loved water guns. Though, he was more concerned with getting some much needed rest and relaxation before they got started. "I'm telling you Kim, I don't know where to start. I know we have some spare time waiting for Jerry's family to come up with some info about the Black Dragons, but couldn't we just as easily get some from Frank's group?"

"I don't know, I don't think they're all that _in the know_. They seem more like thugs than anyone who would know a thing. Julie got taken, right? Sensei Ty would know this if he were in the know." This was true, the fact that Frank's group were still after them meant they probably didn't know shit. "If we go for Sensei Ty, would he be expecting us there? What can he tell us about the Black Dragons, do you think?"

"Right now all we know is what Lonnie said. That's it. We need someone more. If he knows about his niece, maybe he'd cooperate with us?" It was a risk, but he wasn't sure if it was a _good_ risk. Sure, there was a chance Ty would cooperate with them, but there was also a chance that he wouldn't give a damn. Maybe they were thinking him too heartless, more so than he really was, but for now, none of the Black Dragons could be trusted with having a heart. "He might know what that device is, though. The one that Bobby gave us."

"True. It might be worth it to question him about that." Hopefully it wasn't anything dangerous, as they still needed the man. He was the one who provided the private jet for them, if they gave him a call, he could quickly move them anywhere.

"Milton still hasn't managed to open it though…" The strange thing was, there was no code or any indicator that it could be busted open. Whatever it was clearly indicated great craftsmanship. It could have taken years to master the design, to come up with such a device, and perhaps a factory could have been built somewhere to mass produce these devices. What were they used for? "Anyway Kim, I want to apologize. I know our date's pretty much ruined." Kim shrugged her shoulders and leaned against his shoulder.

"I don't know if I'd say that. Just because our plans changed doesn't mean we can't spend time together. As Ciara says, each of us need to take a break here and there, right?"

"Funny. She was just talking to me about that. She has a point too, if we just keep pushing forward without pausing to breathe, we'll wear ourselves out. We need to stop and strategize every now and then. Besides, I think I'd enjoy seeing the sights if we wind up having to go to another country…just as long as we don't get too distracted from our goal."

"Right." Kim glanced towards Ciara and smiled. Jack followed her gaze and saw the cousin watching over them carefully. "Ciara said when she and her crew went to Japan, they met a Geisha and had some sushi. She also went to France, which was where her sister had been living, and she went to the very tip-top of the Eiffel Tower!"

"Well if we every do go to France, maybe I should take you up there."

"That sounds like a nice idea." He didn't think they would go to France, he didn't even think they would have to travel much farther than their hometown. Sure he could be mistaken, but what if Lonnie was wrong? What if Ty knew all about everything? If he did investigate, they ran the risk of running into a trap, but if they didn't, they could very likely miss something.

"Hey Kim, Ciara's team took a while…right? Do you know why?"

"Yeah, she said the hostages kept being moved from base to base." He groaned and put his hand to his forehead. Prayerfully, they wouldn't move their hostages. Hopefully the Black Dragons would leave them wherever they were holding them. "I just wonder what the Dragons' scheme is. Why they're doing all this…what their plans are. I want to find out, and then I want to destroy them."

"We'll find out. Believe me, they won't get away with whatever it is they're doing." He watched the three guys in the pool, Jerry was swimming away from Milton and Eddie. He raised an eyebrow and watched the man rush towards the table beside Ciara. "Hey, what's going on over there?"

Jerry grabbed his cell phone off the table and put it to his ear. It couldn't be his cousin, they'd just talked to the cousin this morning! He pulled the phone from his ear and signaled the others. Immediately Milton and Eddie left the pool. Jack let out a wistful sigh as Kim started to leave the hot tub. He flipped his hair from his eyes and exited as well. Hopefully this was important news, he wasn't too thrilled about the cuddling being cut short, but he'd live.

"Guys, I'm on the phone with my cousin, Deuce Martinez," Jerry declared. "He talked to his father and uncle, they found someone that was in the Black Dragons organization, he's got news for us." Jerry put the phone on speaker and signaled Deuce to begin talking. "Okay Deuce. Milton did some work on our phone lines, they're not able to be tapped or anything."

"Okay good, my dad and uncle were asking about that," Deuce replied. "Jerry, do you know what you're getting into here?"

"No, that's kind of why we were asking you guys."

"Right, right, well Dad found out some pretty heavy info. Because of this, my uncle's closing the restaurant and my family's going _back_ into hiding." Jack raised an eyebrow and Jerry gazed, full of concern, at his phone. "Listen Jerry, what we found…the Black Dragons are _obviously_ a major worldwide crime syndicate. The snitch Dad and Uncle Frank nabbed said they don't know the name or Intel on the _head_ leader, although the guy in charge, everyone calls 'Double O'."

"Double O?"

"Yes, I don't know why. Anyway, there are _eight_ captains beneath this man. Each person presides over a continent as a whole." There were seven continents though, why then were there eight captains? Before Jack could say a thing, Deuce answered what was on his mind. "Apparently Asia is shared with two captains."

"Okay, that's understood," Jack muttered. "Any intelligence on the captains?"

"Yes. A man named Dylan Patrick presides over the Australian Black Dragons. Africa's Dragons are led by a man named Matata Tapiwa, who happens to be a Zulu warrior leader." He cringed and brought his hand to his forehead. The Zulu Warriors were a very infamous group of tribal soldiers in Africa, a troublesome group to mess with. "America's Black Dragons are led by a Native American man named Chogun Matchitchew…I hear he and Matata are the worst captains."

"Great. I'm going to love running into them."

"Sarcasm duly noted. Now South America's Dragons are led by a man named Ernesto Vasco. Una Mave is a woman that leads all the European Dragons. The Asian captains are Chinese woman Fan Daiyu, and Japanese woman Rin Kamiko. Finally, Antarctica-"

"What the _hell_ is in Antarctica?"

"Scientists…" The strange device came to mind and he quickly rolled his eyes. Now there was a brilliant move, anyone that wasn't used to the weather conditions there may be screwed. "The woman that presides over all the scientists there is Hilda Bodil."

"Okay…and these are the captains? What else?"

"Each continent has the captain in charge, which every respective country or state, such as France, or California…must answer to. So each respective country and state have one person that oversees _that _location. Then there are the various sectors within, which basically refers to the _cities_. For instance, there's one dojo where you are…"

"Sensei Ty's dojo."

"Right. Now see here in Chicago, I have a friend of mine that started martial arts some time ago. She doesn't realize it, nor is she a part of it, but that dojo is a Black Dragon dojo. The teacher of that dojo is a weak and spineless coward."

"Is that the man you got?"

"Yes."

"Did he say _anything_ about these strange metallic devices that some of the celebrities seem to have?"

"What devices? No, that's all I know…I'm sorry I can't help you out much more."

"That's fine, thank you for what you did get." He signaled for Jerry to end the call. As Jack leaned forward, pressing himself against the table, a frustrated wrinkle appeared between his eyebrows. "Did you guys catch any of that? We have to sift through all this _muck_. Where do we even begin?"

Milton scoffed and pointed to the metallic device on the table, "First we find out what this is." Jack nodded. He rubbed the back of his neck and thought on Sensei Ty. If they took out a city dojo, it probably wouldn't make enough of an impact. They needed to draw out the main leader, but he didn't honestly know how any of this was going to be possible. "When we find out what it is, we find out if it's something bad, and we go to wherever it's being made and stop production."

"Right…that should be enough to deal a blow to the Dragons, assuming it's something important to them."

"Jack, I have a thought." Milton walked next to him and pat his shoulder. "I'm thinking these devices go as low as these city stations. If that's the case, Ty would know about them, and likely where exactly they're being manufactured…Would you paying him a visit?"

The others turned their attention towards him and he slowly looked towards Kim. He did have a desire to put that Frank in his place, but he wouldn't take _too much_ delight in it. They did have more important matters to deal with. "We'll find out if he knows anything or not. First thing tomorrow morning, we pay him a visit."

"So it's settled. We start tomorrow."

* * *

Your thoughts on the chapter? Yes, Ciara is deathly protective of her cousin XD, and it seems the Black Dragons are indeed _global. _Hope you're enjoying this so far.


	9. Infiltration

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 9 (Infiltration)

Jack and Kim stood before the Black Dragon Dojo, they had a plan of action in mind and were about to carry it out. Ciara and Kim were going to stand guard outside in case the enemy called for reinforcements, the two could handle any reinforcements. Milton had already found a way into the Dojo and was making some adjustments to the 'traps' that the enemy could set off for intruders. Jerry and Eddie were disguised as hooded Dragon Ninjas, and they were going to lead Jack inside to speak directly to Ty.

Milton would sound a signal from inside to let Kim and Ciara know it was time to get inside and help fight within, should a fight break out. "Hey Kim, when you were a part of them, do you remember them talking about anything in particular?" Kim rubbed her chin and turned her eyes towards the door. Jack wasn't too sure what he was asking, but chances were she didn't know too much, considering she wasn't with them all that long.

"Ty often referred to us all as 'grunts', saying he himself was just a grunt that had been granted leadership of a dojo. I do remember him telling Frank something about being promoted to a bodyguard one day." He raised an eyebrow and felt a suspicious pull inside. _Bodyguard_ for what? He quickly glanced towards Kim and motioned for her to explain. She leaned to the right and glanced up in thought. "Let's see, he said that fighters in the Black Dragon Dojo will be trained for a certain length of time, when they reach a certain point they're either chosen to lead a dojo or be a bodyguard. For instance, if you take a look, the Black Dragons are where the most famous celebrities get their bodyguards from."

"Really?" Jerry and Eddie looked at each other, exchanging odd glances. Jack felt his stomach drop, he gripped the metallic device in his hand and carefully looked down towards it. "Bodyguards for celebrities?"

"Yes. _Actually_, before I quit the Black Dragons, I was going to be assigned as a bodyguard to that singer, Izzy. I quit before my assignment, obviously, so someone else went instead. I don't know who, but I do know it wasn't Frank."

"So that's the purpose of the Black Dragons? To be bodyguards?"

"Typically famous singers and actors…So yes, we're talking Tom Cruise, Lady Gaga, and so forth. The more famous, the more guards go to them. Something like that. There doesn't seem to be a problem with that…"

"Maybe on the outside, it appears legit." He didn't need anyone to tell him something seemed wrong about that theory. The object in his hand seemed enough of an indicator that something more sinister was up. "I wonder…if the celebrities get protection from the Black Dragons, are they really getting _protection_?" He raised the object and narrowed his eyes. "A Black Dragon gave this thing to Bobby. When he touched it, it pricked his finger and transferred his blood inside. Izzy and that Weaver guy both have the _same_ device. There's a connection."

"They're all famous celebrities."

"Exactly!" He quickly pocketed the device and turned towards the door, clenching his fists. "Now I'm going to find out exactly _what_ it's used for. Milton's stopped any traps or intruder signals, but he'll alert you if something goes wrong inside. Alert us if something goes wrong outside…Jerry, Eddie, let's get moving." The others nodded and Jack extended his arms, allowing Jerry and Eddie to grab them and pull them behind his back.

As they pushed him inside, his eyes roamed the surroundings. When Milton made it in, he would have had to break in overnight, and that was when Jerry and Eddie had to take out the _real _guards. The inside was consistent of a very long hallway with red carpet running along the middle of the golden floor. Pillars in the shape of dragons ran along both edges of the carpet, with their heads facing inwards. Jack narrowed his eyes and huffed, he knew the dragons would fire off flames at intruders.

The end of the long hallway was a brown medieval shaped door with two rings for doorknobs. Jerry and Eddie reached forward and pulled them open to reveal a very large and high square room. This room had a square red mat, and the same pillars from outside formed a border, with only a small opening where the hallway carpet ran into. Within the square area, seated at the center in meditation form, was Sensei Ty, he was facing the door. His many students, including Frank's group, were also seated in the same form, but facing him. Ty opened his eyes and slowly stood up, calling out for his students to rise.

"It's Jack!" Frank exclaimed. Before he could charge, Ty put a hand on his shoulder.

"Our guards have him…" Ty's lips curled into a smirk. "Finally. Bring him forward." Jerry and Eddie jerked him painfully forward, earning them a fierce glare. Sure, they had to keep up an act, but they didn't have to abuse him in the process. The students split into two lines, all backing against the wall of pillars. Ty moved forward and extended his hands towards Jack. "The elusive Wasabi Warrior…Frank was telling me he had a hard time finding you."

"Whatever," Jack replied with a scorn-laced tone. As Ty chuckled, Jack glanced off behind him. He saw a small hole in the wall of the Dojo, Milton was hiding behind, watching. A smirk of his own curled upon his lips, and he quickly swept his gaze back to Ty's. "What did you do with my family? Where are they?"

"Your family? Is that who you're looking for? Well I don't know, the high leaders took them somewhere far away." He began growling, fighting the urge to lunge towards the man's throat. If he did, he could jeopardize everything. "But worry not, you will be joining them too."

With a huff, he turned his head towards the students studying him. He lunged forward just to provoke them, as they stepped back, Jerry and Eddie shook him. "Are you people scared of me or something?"

"A Black Dragon does not know fear. They recognize a problem, however, and _you_ Jack, are a problem. Orders come from above, and we grunts and instructors have to carry out those orders. That's what we do, we follow orders, we do as we are told, and then we are rewarded. Don't take it so personally Jack, you and your friends were only in the way. That's all."

"In the way of _what_? Do you know what your leaders even want?"

"A grunt just does what they're told. That's all." He was astonished! What it appeared Ty was saying was, _no one_ knew what the leaders had planned. There _had_ to be something more, he just had to know more than just 'follow orders'.

"I don't believe that's all you know…" Ty raised an eyebrow and folded his arms over. He let out a skeptical laugh and started looking to his students, who began laughing as well. Perhaps they felt Jack couldn't do anything when he was stuck in the arms of two guards. He met Milton's gaze and smirked. "You're not the only one_ following orders_."

"Huh?" Jerry and Eddy both lifted their free hand towards their mouths. "What? What are they doing?" Suddenly gaseous fumes began spilling from the mouths of the dragons, and instantly all the students began falling. Ty's eyes widened as Jack covered his own mouth, then slammed his free palm against Ty's mouth.

After each of the students had fallen, the fumes started to recede. Jerry and Eddie removed their hoods and quickly pinned Ty to the floor, holding him down as he screamed out and struggled. Jack stretched his arms out and took a deep breath, stepping down in front of the bewildered teacher. "I had one of my friends bust in last night and rewire everything for this moment. That's not all, either…"

Ty screamed as the noise from the hallway echoed into the dojo, Kim and Ciara were rushing inside and breaking the pillars as they ran along. Once the two were inside, Kim stood beside Jack and Ciara pointed a blade down at Ty. "How could you have broken into my dojo? My guards-"

"Were easy to take out."

"Damn you!" Milton came rushing out, holding onto an identical device that Jack had in his pocket. Milton was wearing a leather glove, considering he wanted to leave no fingerprints the night prior. Ty cried out in anguish when he saw the sight. "Put that down! That's not yours!"

"So you do know what this is?" Milton asked while tossing it down in front of him. "Tell us what it is and why I can't get it open."

"I'm not saying anything."

"Okay then…Ciara?" Ciara shifted the sword to Ty's hand and quickly slammed it down vertically between his thumb and index finger. He screamed his terror as she began to lift and swing consecutively between each finger.

"Have you ever played a game called 'five finger filet'?" Ciara asked, narrowing her eyes. Jack crossed his arms and the others stood by silently. "I learned this game in Russia. You try to hit the gaps between the fingers without slicing the fingers, slowly speeding up with each stab." Ty yelped and Jerry grasped his wrist with a tighter grip than before. "You have faith I won't cut off a finger, Ty? My sister's a lot better at the game than I am."

"Oh my _God!_"

"So won't you talk?" She lifted the blade and moved it into another space between his middle and ring fingers. His screams were full of terror, but Ciara wasn't holding back.

"I'll talk! I'll talk!" Jack wasn't sure he approved of the method, but he wasn't about to call Ciara out on it. Ty shifted his eyes towards the device in front of him and sighed. "That thing…you're lucky to hold it with your gloves. The leaders tell us not to touch it without gloves. I _honestly_ don't know why, but I do know there's a needle of some sort in there that reacts to skin contact. It's developed by the BD scientists. I don't know what it's used for, I don't know _why_ it's being used, only the BD Captains know _exactly_ what the plans are. I don't know anything more than we're supposed to hand them off to famous singers and actors."

Jack narrowed his eyes and looked over to Kim, she folded her arms over and met his gaze. "So they _are_ up to something," she muttered. "But what?" They heard someone shouting and looked over to see Frank glaring at them.

"Let go of my Sensei!" Frank charged for Kim, reaching out for her. She rolled her eyes and kicked back, striking him in the chest. He gripped his chest and echoed his angry scream. "Come on Kim!" Ciara lifted her blade and pointed it towards Frank, causing the youth to freeze up and stare wide-eyed at her.

"Try to strike my cousin again, and you're losing a hand. Do I make myself clear?" He whimpered and slowly nodded his head. "Now…" Ciara flipped the sword back towards Ty and narrowed her eyes. "Do you have any idea where any of the families are being held?"

"No." He panted and tried to breathe slowly, but his breaths still came out rapid and shallow. "All I know is what I just told you. I think the hostages may be held at some remote island somewhere, but the Captains tell us nothing in that regard. Also…the device…you need a very tiny screwdriver as in those small holes on the side, there are these tiny screws that need to come out. Once out, you can take the top circle off. That's all I know…I promise you!"

"Okay." She turned her attention to Jack, looking for a decision. "Jack?" He studied Ty for the moment, watching as the sweat poured down the man's face. They wouldn't be getting anything else out of him, but at the same time, they did get some helpful information.

"We're done here," he replied, "Let's move." The others nodded and started back towards the door. Kim and Ciara walked together behind the group. Jack glanced back in time to see Frank charging for Kim once more. Before he could react, however, Ciara swung her blade directly behind her. Kim turned just in time to see a splash of blood in the air. Frank was now on the ground, holding onto a bloody stump of an arm, his hand was lying in front of him. He began to study his bloody wrist, then let out a blood curdling scream, the likes of which Jack had never heard before. "Holy shi…"

"My _hand!_"

Ciara scoffed and sheathed her blade. Her face was tense and stern. "I told you if you tried to strike my cousin again, you'd lose a hand." Frank looked up at her and whimpered as the tears drenched his cheeks. "Put it on some ice, a doctor can stitch it back together I'm sure. Be glad I didn't take off your head."

They hastily left the dojo, with the attack fresh on their minds. It seemed a bit harsh, true, but he _had_ been warned. It was only a sign of greater danger coming soon, to which, they may actually have to take enemy lives. It was a bitter pill to swallow, but they had to prepare for anything.

Milton held onto the clean device, obviously not used before, deciding once they got it open, that he'd compare it to the one already used. Now that they had an idea of how to open it, they could finally study it. It was truly now or never.

* * *

Your thoughts would be nice to know ^_^


	10. Milton's Breakthrough

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 10 (Milton's Breakthrough)

Milton wiped the sweat from his brow as he huddled over the small device that had been given by Bobby. He wanted to first investigate the differences between the used and the unused. Ty stated clearly that you could not touch them without gloves, due to getting pricked by the needle inside, but it was a one-time stick. Therefore, he only handled them _both_ with gloves, just in case the needle _did_ come out of the used one.

He was currently sitting in a small motel room while the others were out checking on whatever family they had left, ensuring they all believed they were going on some martial arts camping trip. Then again, he was pretty sure Jack and Kim were walking the motel together and chatting about whatever it was the two talked about whenever they were together. It wasn't first on his mind, he was in the midst of a breakthrough! He'd used a light to see into the holes that Ty was talking about, and indeed there were three screws around the colored circle on the top. He had, in his disposal, a tiny screwdriver purchased from a local hardware store that could fit inside.

Carefully, he reached into the hole and stuck his tongue out, concentrating fully on his task. The area surrounding him ceased to exist as though this device were the only thing in the world. He narrowed his eyes and began turning the screwdriver. After several rotations, he felt something loosening, and soon burst with confidence. After another few seconds, the screw was out. It was half the length of a pin cushion needle, but the same width around.

"Eureka…" He continued onto the next screw, focusing so intensely that he missed the sweat dripping from his nose. Once he pulled the second and third screws out, he was able to flip the top of the device off. The inside looked like a hollow bowl, and without the top circle, the device expanded just enough that he could reach in. What he saw surprised him, but at the same time, it confused him. "What am I looking at here?" He grabbed a tiny magnifier and put it up to his eye, glancing about the inside.

Inside this hollow ball was an even smaller ball of silver with a small needle that was erected from the ball. The stunning thing was this needle no longer had a tip. Rather, upon closer inspection, the needle had a flat tip with a round hole in the center. Blood, as well as some strange white residue, rested on the edge. He narrowed his eyes and started to turn the device, humming a slow tune as he continued to study it. What was the purpose?

A red wire caught his attention. He ran his forefinger along it and made the assumption that it was attached to the light, but he could see nowhere to turn it on. Although, as he inspected it further, he did see a small blip next to the metal ball that seemed indicative of remote control. "I wonder…can someone turn this on? How…I need more answers. First, what's inside this thing?" He carefully grasped the safe outside edges of the needle and started to pull. As he did, he discovered that the needle indeed can push forward and retract. However, the used needle was locking rather quickly.

"Obviously being used already, you're not going to extend again…" He grabbed a sheet of paper on the table and pulled it over, if there was something inside the ball, he wanted to pour it out if possible. He was about to try and dump the contents when he stopped to think about the density of the needle, it was likely that the needle could be bent and broken. To save the trouble of using his fingers, he grabbed a pair of sharp wire cutters also purchased at the hardware store.

He gripped the top of the needle and brought the cutters to the center, then slowly began cutting down into the needle. Clenching his teeth, he pressed the cutters down one final time and snapped the needle off. When he pulled the needle up, white residue mixed with blood began pouring out. He gasped out softly and slowly set the piece onto the sheet of paper. "What the hell _is_ that white stuff?" There appeared to be more blood than residue, but whatever the residue was, he had to wonder if it could be injected with the needle.

He carefully brought the unused metal device over and began to open it up. Once he did, he decided to determine _how_ exactly the needle moved. He created a mock impression of human skin, in which he started to bring towards the outside shell. He used his cutters to hold the needle in place so it would not punch forward without his being reading for it. As he touched the makeshift skin to the metal device, he was able to see the ball moving the needle towards the particular hole. It jerked, but his grip kept it from actually going forward. "Aha!" He removed the skin piece and quickly turned to his notebook, whisking away his pen and jotting down his findings.

Investigating the needle, he saw the very tip was well intact, unlike the used one. What this told him was the tip of the needle was sitting somewhere inside Bobby Wasabi, along with whatever white residue was injected into him. Now the question that remained was, _what_ was the white residue supposed to be?

He rubbed his chin and started to wrap the makeshift skin around a small soft block of candle wax. Milton grabbed a syringe with red dye color and injected it into the wax cube, hoping to mimic blood. Once he pressed it against the object, the needle shot forward and punched into the device. The needle pulled back, vacuuming blood inside of it, as though exchanging the residue.

Thinking fast on this discovery, he wrote his findings and began to slowly tear apart the cube. What he found astonished him, the tip of the needle, which was barely a centimeter long, was pouring out that residue. He narrowed his eyes and started humming in thought. This mysterious residue, once entered into the bloodstream, could it potentially act as a deadly parasite?

The door opened up, startling him back into his surroundings. He quickly looked to see Jack and the others entering. "Did you find anything at all?" Jack asked with an eager tone. Milton wiped the sweat from his brow once more and sighed.

"I don't know why I'm getting all excited," he replied. "My findings are a little confusing. However what I do understand from my findings is…this thing is very technologically advanced, so I know some really good scientists had to have created this…_thing_."

"So what did you find?"

"Well." He lifted the device up and began to explain, hoping they could understand. He went for the simplest means that he could use. "This thing detects the skin, the metal ball in the center rotates the needle and allows it to push forward just one time. The very tip of the needle breaks off once it gets into something…now that's when it gets weird."

"Okay?" Jack took a seat across from him and stared at the device. Milton set it down and grabbed the cube. He wasn't ready to explain, since he himself didn't fully comprehend it.

"I haven't run tests on what it is, so I don't know yet, but there's this mysterious white residue that appears to be in the very tip. So whatever it is, it is ejected into the body." He watched his friend's face pale as he studied the cube. Milton cleared his throat and pointed back to the ball. "I'm not certain if the residue is in the tip, or if it's in both the tip and the inside of this ball, but there's some kind of suctioning that sucks the blood it transfers into the ball. Maybe like a genetic fingerprint or something…some of these things I don't understand, it's almost like…I think we need the actual scientists that made these things in order to figure anything out!"

"So whatever the crap is that it injects into the bloodstream…nobody appears to be affected. I mean all the celebrities that have it are acting the same way they always have, and Bobby's been acting his usual self."

"That's what's confusing me." He took the broken, used machine, and started to dump the contents onto the paper. Once he did, he reached forward and felt of the texture of the residue. It had a very smooth texture, almost like flour. He was certain it wasn't flour, but he needed to observe it just a little longer. "There is a wire in here that goes to the LED light, but I also spotted a small thing that seems to detect a remote signal of some kind. It makes me think whatever this thing is, it can be accessed by some weird machine."

"Okay Milt, tell me then what you think based off of what you know _so far_. Is it dangerous?"

"Dangerous?" He scoffed and chuckled, moving his gaze towards the white powder on the paper. "There's an unknown substance injected into the bloodstream of every major actor and singer on this planet, possibly accessed by remote control, and you're asking me if it's _dangerous?_" he didn't know how this residue reacted once in the body. Did it expand? Did it evaporate? Did it explode? Were those that got pricked by that needle now considered ticking time bombs? "What do you think, Jack?"

Jack crossed his arms and lowered his voice to a flat tune. "Hey, no time to become a smart-ass." Milton shook his head and ran his hand through his hair. He didn't mean to upset him, he was only frustrated.

"Sorry Jack, I just really don't know what to tell you. For all I know, if this LED light turns on…if someone is able to turn this thing on and activate that powder somehow, it might spell disaster." He moved his gaze to Jack's, leaning forward with an honest and upset expression. "I think more than just our families and Rudy are in danger. This is worldwide, and I've only figured out _how_ the thing operates. I still don't know what the hell it does…do we really want to wait and find out?"

"No, we can't do that." Of course not, because by the time they waited to find out, it might be too late. Chances were, they only had one opportunity to stop this before it became an international crisis. "So we need to figure out where these are being produced, why they're being produced, and stop the damn production."

"Simple enough?"

"Yeah…right…" Jack laughed sarcastically and glanced off to the right. "What did Ty say? All the scientists and manufacturers had bases scattered around Antarctica?" Milton raised an eyebrow and Jack slowly looked back to him. Antarctica was no place to live, only the scientists could survive those frigid temperatures. "We can't survive Antarctica, Milton. We're not scientists!"

"Actually…" Instantly the visualization of some specialized suit came to mind. Perhaps if he could invent a suit capable of resisting such cold temperatures, they could manage, but he needed a laboratory to work in. There was an old friend of his father's that lived somewhere nearby who could help create this suit. "Have any of you heard of a man named Mr. Davenport?" He chuckled briskly and clasped his hands together.

"No…"

"Either way. I _think_ I can get us a suit that can withstand Antarctica's temperatures. Then we can get some answers from those scientists."

* * *

What are your thoughts on this device? Oh, and hope you guys recognize the scientist they're about to visit.


	11. Their Lives in Your Hands

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 11 (Their Lives are in Your Hands)

Wasabi's private jet was filled with chatter as everyone talked on their cell phones. Jack was speaking with Bobby. Milton was talking on the phone to Mr. Davenport. Ciara was talking to her grandfather-in-law, who happened to be the military General that gave the orders to take out Paragon Global. As for the others, Kim was on the phone with her father in Australia, making sure he was _safe_. Eddie and Jerry were playing a game of cards. The plane ride wouldn't take too much longer, they'd already been flying for forty minutes, and had about half an hour left.

"So what you're telling me is, my life might be in danger?" Bobby asked in mock surprise. He'd never been one to think his life would be in any danger, especially not with all those guards. Jack knew better of course, his own bodyguards and ninjas failed to notice a Black Dragon in disguise. "Jack, my friend, I think I can take plenty care of myself. I feel just fine, there's no imminent danger that I can see."

"That's because whatever that residue is, it's _inside_. You're not going to be able to see it, probably." Jack turned his attention to the others and hummed to himself. He was all the way in the back of the plane with a table in front of him. He was on the seats against the back of the plane, separated only by a space that led to the bathroom. In front of him were two tables on either side of the plane, and one plane seat in front, and one behind, each table. Closer to the front of the plane were two rows of two seats on each side. Jerry and Eddie were on the right hand table, Kim was seated at the left hand table, while Milton was closer to the front of the plane. Phil and Ciara were also in the front seats, with Phil asleep. "Did I mention, this is a nice plane?"

"Why thank you! My pilot's free whenever you need him of course. Wherever you're going, free of charge! My ninjas are available too, as you know." He chuckled appreciatively at Bobby's reminder. He truly hoped they could fix this problem before something happened to him. He would hate to lose such a good friend. Suddenly the tone in Bobby's voice grew ominous and sad. "So you think Milton found something that would wind up killing me? All those years fighting and I'd be done out by some strange powder?"

"We don't know anything yet. Because it's unknown, it's automatically assumed unsafe…" That was the generally accepted rule everywhere, if some kind of chemical, fluid or spill was unknown, treat it as if it were dangerous. He heard the man begin to weep, very softly, admitting to his fear of death. It amazed Jack, to think that a mountain of a man that Bobby was, as legendary of a fighter as he was, would possibly be afraid of death. "It'll be okay. We'll find something…we'll find a way. Nothing will happen to you."

"You promise that, Jack? Between you and me, whenever I think of dying…I just can't get it out of my head…that's why I'm not there on the field like you guys. I would just freeze up, I'd be torn to pieces! Figure it out soon, otherwise I'm about to fire all my ninjas for letting a Black Dragon in my mansion."

"It will be okay. We won't let anything happen."

"I'm trusting you, Jack. All of the people out there that got pricked with these things…if those things are really all that dangerous, then everyone's lives are in your hands. No pressure!"

The realization hit him as a tidal wave. His eyes widened momentarily and his heartbeat began to echo throughout the plane, pounding harder and faster. As Bobby bid his farewell, Jack hung the phone up, and stared directly ahead. _No pressure?_ The weight upon his shoulders was unbearable! He didn't want to think of there being that many lives at stake, he didn't even want to think those devices were all that lethal. _What_ had he gotten everyone into?

He fought away his self doubts and shook his head, blinking several times to get back into reality. Ciara and Milton were walking back towards him, so he quickly put on a brave expression, eager to hear what they had to say. Ciara went first, which was okay, considering he wanted to hear if the General would do anything. Even two years later, the man was still a high ranking General, now a Four Star. "So what's the news?"

"My Grandfather-in-law said he'll get the military rallied up as soon as we have evidence and word that there is a true considerable threat." She turned her head towards the window of the plane and slowly closed her hand. "He's investigating the Black Dragons now. If he can get the military involved, they'll start taking out dojos everywhere. They know how to deal with crime organizations."

"There's a way to deal with them?"

"Yes." She looked back to him and raised an eyebrow. "Crime Organizations are hard to extinguish. Usually there's your high leader, your second line of command, Capos, and so on. Each next in line is prepared to take the lead, should something happen to the leader. It's constant replenishing, there will always be someone ready to take the place of someone that has been lost."

Jack grew disheartened at the news, but he had faith in the military. Ciara had also told them before how the grandfather was close to other country leaders. If this global organization was indeed a _threat_, surely he could convince the other countries to utilize their own armies to help wipe out the Black Dragons. It was still a chilling thought, if they took out this 'Double O' leader, one of the captains could take his place. If they took out one of the captains, one of the sector leaders would take the place of the captain.

"Then we obviously need to let the military do their part if they can help." He closed his hands and narrowed his eyes. The others turned to him. "Our main objective remains the same, get rid of these devices if they are a threat, and get Rudy, and our families back at all costs."

"Right," Milton took a small step forward and cleared his throat. His head was bowed slightly and his expression was mixed with fear and concern. Automatically, Jack wanted to question this. "We have a problem…"

Arriving at Davenport's place, Jack was in a furious haste, he expected a completely trashed place. Yet when they arrived, Davenport carefully led them into the house. The man had a black beard, grew his hair out to the point it covered the top half of his ears. He looked like a broken man, walking slowly back and forth. Milton had already explained the things that had happened to him, that Davenport had lost his family to the Black Dragons as well.

Not only was Davenport a genius who had invented _many_ great things, he was also a family man. Minus his wife and step son, Leo, he had three other children of his that he'd given bionic chips to. Adam, Bree, and Chase were their names. Adam had super strength, Bree had super speed, and Chase was a super genius. "Is everything all right?" Jack asked curiously, gazing carefully about the room. "Have you made sure no one's been spying on you?"

"Yes, I'm certain," he replied. "Milton told me what you wanted, suits to survive the frigid temperatures of Antarctica?" He slowly nodded as the disheveled man quietly moved towards the kitchen counter. "I can create these suits for you and your group, but I want you to do something for me…"

"What do you need?"

The scientist looked directly into Jack's eyes, frown lines framed his lips. "I want my _son_ back." Milton was informed that the device they had was something that Davenport, and an old friend of his, had put together many years ago. They hadn't been aware of its destructive tendencies, and when they became aware, they quickly trashed it. The other man perished and Davenport trashed the designs. The Black Dragons came to him a few years before, requesting these blueprints, but he refused to hand them over. They needed a scientist with a mind that could unlock them. They got a hold of Chase and learned the ways of the bionic chip, they controlled it to force him to write these blueprints. When finished, they returned Chase to Davenport, vowing to return one day and get their revenge for his turning them down initially.

"Just tell us what happened…or _when_ it happened."

Davenport rubbed his forehead, forming a wrinkle between his eyes. "Nearly a year ago, just months…the Black Dragons returned, they'd managed to crack the code, but their scientists were not making these devices as fast as they wanted…they controlled Chase's bionic chip and reversed it, turning him into one of their evil scientists…then somehow, they trapped Bree and Adam in their chambers, forcing them into a sleep. Leo and my wife are also in a coma, I don't know what my son did, but I know he can bring them all back. I…I've failed them…I couldn't bring them back."

Jack put his hands to the man's shoulders and kept his gaze locked with his. "We'll try to find your son and get him back. I promise, but you have to work with Milton." Davenport slowly looked over and paled when his eyes fell on the device in Milton's hand. "That thing pricked our friend…do you know what it does? How it will work?"

The man began stammering and carefully walked over, reaching out for the disk. Tears came to his eyes and he quickly smacked it from Milton's hand. Milton let out a loud yelp and jumped back, then reached down to pick up the object. "I know the blueprints, I'm not _entirely_ sure what the Black Dragons want with it. I hate that thing, it's the reason all of this happened." He took a deep breath and ran his hand through his hair. "That thing…is meant for singers and actors alike, all over the globe. The white powder inside acts as a parasite."

Jack's voice fell flat and sweat dripped down his temple. He knew what a parasite was, but he was too stunned to fathom exactly what it meant. "A what? Parasite? As in…the thing that can be deadly and fatal?"

"Yes, but this one's not quite like that…" Davenport gingerly took the object from Milton and lifted it up, narrowing his eyes onto it. "That light on the top, if it turns on, that means someone's activated it. They're all activated by some sort of machine…but that powder, it's exchanged with blood via a needle with a suction inside. The blood acts as a genetic imprint to make sure that only _that_ person is affected, and not someone else that might have been hit second hand."

"A-Affected?" Jack slowly looked towards the others, feeling a pit of despair rising up inside him. This was beginning to sound worse than he'd imagined, and the others appeared frightened by it as well. "And what exactly does the residue do once activated?"

"It acts as a hypnotic agent." Like mind control? Jack watched the man set the device on the counter. He leaned against the refrigerator and crossed his arms, glaring down at the object. "Anyway that needle can only stick once. Once it does, it can't be used again. It detects the derma, also known as your skin. Skin cells…that's why it has to be handled with gloves."

"Yeah, Milton discovered that."

"Smart kid, just like his father." Milton thanked him and let him continue with his explanation. "The residue will float via bloodstream and attach itself to the victim's brain. Once that machine activates…anyone that's been stuck will fall into a hypnotic trance…What happens after that, is beyond me."

Jack was speechless, already many possibilities were running through his mind. If these things could induce a hypnotic state of mind, then that meant the Black Dragons could control all those people. He shifted his gaze and stammered his thoughts. "But why? Why singers? Why actors? What makes them the prime targets here?"

"I don't know, but what I do know is these things are being mass produced in the science labs on Antarctica. My son is being held there. If you can get down there, reverse his bionic chip, I will gladly help Milton make those suits." There was no choice in the matter, and he wanted to help the guy's son anyway.

"We have to get down there and find out how to put a stop to those things, to prevent more from going out! However, we also need to find out _why_." The what they've solved, the how they have solved, but the why seemed to be the hardest part to figure out. He pushed the thought back and quickly nodded his head. "We'll gladly help. How long will it take you to get those suits prepared?"

"I'm not sure. It's trial and error, could be a couple days." Jack rolled his eyes and glanced to the wall right of him. _More waiting_, just great. "Now reversing Chase's bionic chip shouldn't be too hard, you just need to short it out with a volt of electricity. I'll talk to you about that when the time comes."

"Okay."

"Milton, come with me to the lab." Jack watched the two rush off. He took a seat on the couch and tapped his fingers together in front of his nose. He couldn't shake it from his mind that the device could cause such a dangerous trancelike state. If that was allowed to happen, there were indeed many things that the Black Dragons could force these innocent people to do.

"It doesn't help," he muttered to himself. "All these lives hanging in the balance…I never asked for this…" There was no backing down, not now. He knew this, but he was truly scared as well. All he could do was have faith in his team to do the right things. Maybe they _could_ win this.

* * *

Davenport's family devastated and forced to create such a dangerous product. This does not look pretty. What do you think of the device? Oh and by the way, we're seeing Rudy next chapter.


	12. Enter the Prison Compound

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N: Bear in mind, Rudy will make appearances, though there's not a whole lot he can do in captivity, but we'll see. This chapter is his chapter.

* * *

Chapter 12 (Enter the Prison Compound)

"You won't get away with this!" Rudy exclaimed in an attempt to drown out the roar of the helicopter he was in. His wrists and ankles were cuffed together with huge metal chains that were rubbing him raw as he continued his futile effort to break free. He was seated in the one back seat of the helicopter, well behind the two people flying the plane.

In the pilot's seat was a man with broad shoulders, chin length black hair, and a fuzzy goatee with mild stubble along his jaw. The man's beady eyes and familiar face stuck with Rudy, but he couldn't place it. This was his first time seeing the man, though he'd been in captivity already for days at one of the local Black Dragon bases. To his knowledge, this was the head of all the Black Dragons, _Double O_. In the co-pilot seat was an overly muscled African tribal leader with a bald head, sharp eyes, and teeth like daggers. This man was referred to as Matata Tapiwa, Captain of the African Black Dragons.

"You know how many times we hear that?" Double O asked, leaning towards the side. Rudy glared at him, wishing that he could have laser eyes, or some sort of super power, but unfortunately that was all wishful thinking. The man chuckled and glanced back over his shoulder with a dangerous smirk that chilled Rudy to the core. "It's been a long time Jackson, I've wasted many years trying to hunt you down. Now that I found you, you can watch as our plans unfold."

Rudy shook his wrists, pulling until they dug into his skin. With a sob, he threw his wrists back into his lap and screamed at the man. His heart was pounding inside of him, and the familiarity of this man continued drilling his brain. "Who are you? Why are you doing this?" The man's eyes glinted in the sun and he quickly turned back around, shaking his head.

"All in due time, Jackson…All in due time…" The man shifted in his seat and looked out of the window. "Or do you prefer to go by Rudy, now? It won't matter, really…at least not to me."

"What do you mean, 'not to you'?"

"Where we're taking you, the other hostages might want to know if you have a preference." He felt a sudden pang of fear within his chest. There were other hostages? He prayed they didn't get his students. They just _had _to be safe. "Matata, have the other hostages been transferred?" Rudy snapped his eyes to the fearsome looking man and swallowed down his fear. He felt a trickle of sweat on his neck hairs and tried to lift his hands up, but he couldn't reach the sweat. Double O looked back over his shoulder, still smirking. "I wanted to deliver this one _personally_."

"You don't visit the compound often enough," Matata said with a grunt. "You're the 'warden'."

"Yes, I know, but I have other matters that I have to attend to. There are certain things I need to make sure are going according to plan, that's why I have you watching over the compound instead."

"Yes, but sometimes it is hard to oversee the dragons in Africa, and to check the prisoners at the same time. I still don't understand why you keep that one girl alive."

"For one, because I don't want to _kill_ the bitch, and secondly, I want her to watch as every singer and every actor on the face of this planet meet their end." Rudy's eyebrows shot up and a whimper left his lips. "We only had to wait until we found this lucky dumbass." The helicopter shook back, causing him to scream in terror. "Relax, I'm only landing the chopper." Rudy could feel his knees bumping each other as tremors quaked through his body. He didn't want to die, he was too young to die!

Once the chopper landed, he was jerked from it by Matata, who was gripping his left arm with excessive force. Rudy rolled his eyes upwards and sighed. "Squeeze tighter, you're not snapping my bone yet." The man's responding growl shook him into silence. He watched as Double O casually moved over to him. The leader wasn't _as_ muscular, he had a very slender figure, but Rudy could tell he was strong. If he was the leader of the major organization, he _had_ to be strong.

"Careful there, Stewart. You don't want to end your life by being a smartass." The man pat the jet black helicopter on and flashed a toothy grin. "Welcome to our prisoner's compound island. Smack dab in the middle of the southern ocean, several hundred miles south of Africa, and a couple hundred miles north of Antarctica. Surrounded on all sides by vast ocean, this uncharted island is one of the many islands that has gone unseen and unexplored by many. The only way on, and the only way off is by air. Should you escape the compound where you'll be staying, you will have to venture past many traps as well as Black Dragon ninjas hidden around the island…if you make it to the edges, this mountain is raised well above the sea, so it's a jump…should you attempt the jump, you would only be so lucky not to fall among the rocks below."

Rudy cringed as he imagined falling down some cliff and landing in the rock bed, splattered every which way. He bit his lip and looked around to see trees surrounding him in every direction. Various ninjas were visible walking about and hiding up in the trees, guarding the island. "H-How big is the island?"

"Several hundred square feet in diameter…face it Jackson, you're not getting off this island." Double O pat his shoulder, then stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Let's get moving." Rudy felt Matata yank him forward, practically pulling the arm from his socket. He whimpered and stared straight ahead at the building they were headed towards. The leader spread his arms out and glanced back at him with his cold, unfeeling eyes. "This will be your new home. See, I will have use for you once our plans are complete."

"The other hostages?"

The man brandished his hand through the air, speaking with a dull nonchalance. "I'll deal with them accordingly. The only reason your sister is still alive is because I want her to suffer for what she did, and to watch as all the entertainers of the world perish." Rudy's eyes widened and his jaw fell open, it was in that instance that he _knew_ who this man was. His mind flashed back to his sister, and to Lilly, her best friend. The poor girl. "Maybe once I'm done with that, I'll work on world leaders. Politicians _have_ become a nuisance."

He stopped moving at the front door of the square building, causing both Matata and Double O to turn towards him, both annoyed. "O-Oliver? It can't be. Why? Why would you do this?" Oliver scowled at him and folded his arms. "What have those actors done to you? What have singers done to you?"

"So you recognized me finally. I was wondering how long it would take you to piece it together." Oliver stepped forward and formed a fist around the front of his shirt, pulling him closer. "When my father died, I took over the Black Dragons. You remember me saying he bought them out, I'm sure. You remember Lilly as well?"

"Yeah…I remember she was killed…" Oliver shoved him back, his face fell and his eyes filled with spite.

"Sweet, innocent Lilly…we were going to go off to college together, to marry. Because of your _sister_…that stuck up, self-absorbed girl, my Lilly is _dead_!" Rudy recoiled as Oliver's resounding shout echoed in his ears. "As I mourned her, I began to realize. These celebrities…these singers, actors, and whatever else…all they care about is _themselves_."

That wasn't true, Miley's whole life revolved around her friends. Sure she could be selfish every once in a while, but she would never turn her back on a friend. "Miley_ loved_ Lilly!"

"Obviously not, or else on that day, she would have had the decency to help her out when she needed her." He had to admit, it was a pretty bad thing that happened, and it was a tragedy how it ended. He could feel Oliver's pain, but he couldn't understand why that would make him want to unleash his anger on all the innocent people. "Because of her _vanity_, her selfishness, I decided it was time to act. All those stars out there, I'll bring them to their knees. As far as I'm concerned, Jackson, I'm doing the world a favor."

"They didn't _do_ anything!"

"That's where you're wrong." Oliver turned his back to him and crossed his arms. "You remember Ricky Weaver I'm sure, goes from state to state, romancing a particular female fan, and then dumps them. Mel Gibson turned down a small kid's request for an autograph, and-"

"So there are a few pompous celebrities out there, I understand that, but Oliver come on! Not _every_ celebrity is that bad! Not every one of them is that _careless_. Not every-"

"She was pregnant, Jackson." Rudy froze as Oliver slowly turned back around. He wanted to hear something else, _anything_ else. He wanted to hear Oliver say some random girl, not the girl that came to mind. Lilly couldn't have been pregnant! "That night, Lilly was so nervous that she was running a little late. She wanted to tell your sister the news after the concert, she'd just found out a week before." His heart sank and goosebumps began shooting down his arm. His eyes drifted to the ground. "I was _so_ happy, ecstatic, I was going to be a father! Then, because your sister had something shoved up her ass for Lilly being late due to something that Miley did not quite understand…I lost _everything_. Lilly and that unborn child, taken from me…"

"I'm sorry man. I…how could any of us have known?" Oliver straightened himself, then with a huff, turned back around. "Oliver if you…If you do this just because of a few jerks in the entertainment industry, then you'd have to do it for everyone in the world, because _everyone_ has some selfishness in them."

"I think we're done talking here, Jackson. Time is short."

"Well at least…what are you planning?"

"When the time is ripe and everything is ready, I will set off a machine that will send a signal out to various remote devices." Oliver pushed the doors open and Matata led Rudy inside. "Every celebrity in the world will be under hypnosis, and they will believe themselves to be superior athletes. Why?" Rudy raised an eyebrow as Oliver slowly looked over his shoulder. "They will all begin walking into the oceans where they will swim to another island we have with an active volcano, they will proceed to climb this volcano, and throw themselves into the fire." Symbolic of the fires of hell. Rudy felt his heart scream for these innocent lives, their only crime was being famous. Sure, a lot of them might be pompous, self-absorbed assholes, but there was no reason for such devastation! "Of course while they undergo this, it would be impossible to wake them up and impossible to stop them. Should anyone restrain them, they will find the rest of their lives incredibly difficult…"

"Y-You _can't_ get away with this!"

"Again…we've heard this before."

"How _long_ have you been planning this, Oliver?"

"Many years, but we've put off a lot of time searching for you." Why? Why was it so crucial they find him? Before he could speak, Oliver seemed to answer the question as though reading his mind. "You see, while you were out there, you could get smart. You might have pieced together something, say, figured out that I was behind it all. Or perhaps you would wind up looking for your sister, there are many risk factors out there for having you still around. So, bearing that in mind, we had to have you in captivity. If anything had gone wrong, we wouldn't want you testifying, am I correct? When we finally zeroed in on the prospect that you were going under the name of Rudy Gillespie, we had to confirm it, so we convinced that lizard-loving freak to get close to you. Of course, once confirmed, we had to try and scare your students away from getting too smart, but I let my captains deal with that, and now we have more hostages…"

"Their families?"

"Yes. People they care about. Obviously _that_ was _not_ my idea, but we'll see what happens…" A lump formed in Rudy's throat. He wanted off this island, away from Oliver, but how was he to do that? He studied a heavy iron, bolted door that obviously led somewhere even more sinister. Currently all that was in the open area, besides that door, was another door to his right that led into an office. "Don't worry Jackson, once you're inside, we'll remove your cuffs."

"Not worried about escapees?"

"Where are they going to go? _Outside_? There are all those traps, fighters, and even if you passed all that…as I said, there's still the fact that on every side of this island is a cliff that falls off into many rocks. Survive that jump, and you have to swim for hundreds of miles to reach shore. You might find it easier to just remain within the compound."

This was turning out to be a hellish nightmare, more so than he'd thought possible. He followed them past the bolt lock door, to reveal a hallway with several cell doors. All the doors were open, including a door at the very end of the hall, which had sunlight pouring through. He raised an eyebrow and followed Oliver and Matata in silence, not daring to run. "Where are the prisoners?"

"In the recess area." The sunlight stabbed his eyes when they made it out. The area was cut off by a giant metal wall with electric barbed wire at the very top of the fence. He could see the wall being guarded by two towers on the outside, with what appeared to be automatic machine guns trained onto the fence. "Oh by the way, if you try to scale the wall, those guns outside will fire."

"I see…" He saw a door in the center of the wall in front of him, but it was another heavy looking door with a window in the center that was shut off with iron bars. "What's with the door?"

"Matata's the captain in charge of this compound, he tends to go through that door to check on the prisoners. We've had one prisoner actually slip past him and try to run out, hoping he'd chase after…"

"And what happened?"

"The prisoner was ripped apart by those machine guns," Matata answered with a devilish laugh. Rudy's blood ran cold and he slowly looked up at the tall man. Matata pulled a remote from his pocket and smirked. The remote was a small square with several buttons. "With this I can freely turn on and off those guns, I turn them off only so I can walk by them to check on the prisoners once every couple of days. Various Black Dragons stationed here use the door to bring food once a day. They have these remotes as well, obviously."

"Okay, so…don't run when the door opens."

"See, you've already learned that lesson," Oliver laughed. "You've become a bit smarter since we last spoke. Now, we have to get back to our bases, make nice with the current prisoners."

"But-" Oliver unlocked the cuffs around his wrists and ankles. Rudy listened to them fall with a loud crash. "How do these doors open and close? There must be someone operating a control room, right?"

"You ask a lot of questions, and I'm afraid I have no more answers for you." He bit his lip and watched as the two men started back inside.

"I'm really sorry, Oliver! About Lilly, and that baby…I know it had to hurt, I can't imagine the pain, but…those innocent people out there, they have families too." Oliver slowly looked back at him, shaking his head.

"Now. They'll suffer what I've gone through. You won't convince me otherwise, Jackson, and yes…I _am_ getting away with it, but I'm not cocky enough to believe I won't be met with trouble…" He whined as the men walked off, disappearing into the distance.

When he turned back around, he started noticing the prisoners behind held there. There were quite a few, aside from the relatives of his students. Most were watching him intensely, while others were going on as if nothing were happening.

Within the compound were four picnic tables, all positioned close to the corners. On the one closest to him, off to the right, there were four people in raggedy clothes, playing cards. To his left were six frail looking people, just staring at him. The corner closest to the metal wall, farthest from him and off to the right, he saw Eddie's father and sister. Beside them was Julie, and Jerry's father. The two fathers were on one side of the table, while the two girls were on the other side.

The far left table were Jack's parents and grandfather, but sitting in the corner and hiding behind the table, was someone with coarse brown hair. He narrowed his eyes and slowly began walking over, the grandfather and parents were talking to the girl, trying to get her to speak. One of the prisoners on the other tables called out to them. "It's no use! She hasn't spoken a word in years."

As he moved closer, he saw her slowly look up to him. Their eyes locked and terror shot through his body. He recognized her with no trouble whatsoever, then the anger flourished. "M-Miley?"

"Jackson?" She answered. Her eyes brimmed with tears as every prisoner started to stand, shocked that she actually _spoke_. Miley carefully stood up, whimpering as her extremely thin body trembled with her weight. He rushed to her side and quickly moved his right arm behind her back, and put his left hand on her arm, helping her to steady. His heart was breaking at the sight of her, how could anyone let her get so weak?

Her lips were cracked, her eyes were devoid of life, and her hair seemed thinner and the color had faded a bit over the years. He choked back his tears as she started to move her head towards his chest. "Miley…I can't believe Oliver would have let this happen to you."

"He won't let them kill me, Jackson. Sometimes I just want to die, but he won't let them…I don't understand it."

"No. No it's okay, don't talk like that." Where was his father? Where was Roxy? His mind was clouded with despair as he tore his gaze to the door leading out to the machine guns. His eyes clenched shut and tears began to flee. He felt Miley's trembling and carefully pulled her into a hug.

"We can't get out, Jackson…Dad…Dad tried a long time ago."

"And Roxy?"

"…She died that day…" It had to be the bread, over years he'd come to understand the coughing that Roxy had been doing. It wasn't the sound of someone choking, it had been the sound of someone just realizing they'd been poisoned. He didn't want to accept or believe that she could have been, but it was plausible.

They couldn't stay here forever, but they couldn't get out of this compound alive. Even if they could all try to overpower whatever guard came in to feed them, everyone was weak and fragile looking. Chances were, the instant they got out, they'd all die. Even if some of them got past the guns, how the hell would they truly escape?

Miley started to sob and hugged his waist as tight as she could. He was careful not to hug her too tightly, for fear of snapping her in two. She didn't understand why she was here, she didn't _deserve_ to be here. None of these people did.

It wasn't hopeless, _someone_ out there had to know. There had to be someone out there who would rescue them, but if not, they may very well be doomed to die on this island. All he could do was protect his sister, protect the other prisoners, and just _pray_ someone came to save them.

"I won't let anything more happen to you, Miley. I promise…You, the others here…"

"I thought I'd never see you again, Jackson." Her weeping dirtied his uniform, but he didn't care. He examined Miley's clothes, they were torn, filthy, and just a bit small for her. Were they the same clothes she'd been taken with?

"Don't they ever let you clean your clothes?"

"Once a month," Another prisoner answered. "Sometimes new clothes are provided, but she hasn't accepted any change of clothes. Hell, she's hardly said anything or moved in all these years…this is just a surprise. Who are you to her?"

"Her brother…" Maybe he could protect her. What ailed him even more than the realization that his father was long gone, and the trauma his sister must have gone through, were the many innocent lives that were going to end because of one selfish mistake. Was it selfish though, to think such a thing? Was assuming that Oliver was wrong in his anger justifying what happened to Lilly? No. Oliver's anger _was_ justified, but nothing could justify Lilly's death, and nothing would _ever_ justify the slaughter of the millions that Oliver was suggesting. Nothing could ever justify Miley's captivity, and nothing could ever justify losing their father. Wasn't that loss enough? Maybe Oliver would come to his senses, but maybe the man had stewed over his loss for too long, and already he was in the point of no return.

Even still, Rudy couldn't lose hope. He wasn't going to let this beat him, he had to be brave and have faith. It was up to him now to look after Miley, and to look after these prisoners. No one else was going to do it.

"I just hope Jack and the others are safe."

* * *

Hmm, well we know what those devices are going to do once they're activated, your thoughts on the matter thus far? Also, Miley's _alive!_


	13. A New Ally

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 13 (A New Ally)

Jack looked around Davenport's lab with a heavy heart. A mournful pang struck when he saw Bree and Adam asleep in their glass chambers. In front of them were two long stretchers where a grown woman and a young boy lay, many tubes were attached to them. They showed no signs of waking. He couldn't be there without feeling like he'd just stepped into a pit of total despair. What was he to do, though? They had been tasked with one mission so far, getting Chase back, and hopefully he could work together with Davenport to bring them all back.

They were going to have to retrieve him, _alive_. He tore his gaze over to the counter where Davenport and Milton were working on some sort of stretched out material. He didn't understand the scientific stuff, but he did have faith in the two. They'd already been there one day, and he was growing more anxious by the minute. "How is it going?" Milton looked up and over his shoulder, smiling at him.

"It's going well, Jack. We're working on separating the molecules, and then we'll start tampering with the atoms and nu-" Jack lifted his hand and Milton stopped talking. Milton chuckled and closed his eyes. "Right, all the science terms confuse you. We're making good progress. How about all of you?"

"It's all good." Ciara was actually training Jerry and Eddie, giving them tips to help increase their fighting skills. Phil was busy cooking some food for everyone, and Kim was upstairs lounging on the couch. "Everyone is doing their own thing. Ciara's grandfather may show up though." They were also on guard in case the Black Dragons showed up. There was always a chance they would, considering Davenport's involvement. "Anyway…" He looked back to the unconscious ones with forlorn eyes. "I'm going to get out of here. I was just checking up on you."

"Right…the suits may be done in a day or two really." He liked the pacing, but he thought they could use a break every now and then. It was good devotion of course, but if they overworked themselves then Milton might be too tired to do anything once they finally finished those suits. "We'll let you know when we've finished entirely."

"Okay." He moved back out to the living room where Kim was and paused to admire her. He was only so lucky to have her, and still felt terrible that their first date never actually _happened_. An idea popped into mind in regards to Kim's affinity towards animals, perhaps they could mix business with pleasure. "Hey Kim, I have an idea…" She looked over and smiled vaguely, she appeared bored out of her mind. "While we're here waiting…we have nothing to do, and General Thompson won't be here for a while…" General Thompson was Ciara's grandfather-in-law. "Maybe you and I can hit the zoo? You know, get that first date out of the way."

"A first date is only a formality, we're already _'together'_ anyway." He moved beside her and shrugged, he thought it was worth a shot, and he didn't want to give up.

"I know, but you deserve it. We really don't have anything to do, and it's not good to just obsess over all this hard stuff."

"That is true…and I haven't been to a zoo in a long time." She crossed her legs and leaned against his arm, sighing quietly. Her face twisted in contemplation as her eyes drifted up to him. "It would mean a lot to me, but…"

"Milton did say the suits wouldn't be ready for at least another day."

"I see your point. So why not, let's do it." She quickly rose up and pulled him from the couch in a surprising rush. Her eyes reflected her eagerness as she quickly bounded over to the counter. The zoo was just a quick walk away, so there was no trouble getting there. "Phil, Jack and I are going to the zoo!" Phil looked back from the stove and waved happily.

"Okay! Dinner will be done in three or four hours, so have a good time!"

"Thanks!" As Jack watched the exchange, soon to be yanked out of the house, he only appreciated how eager she was. She hid it well that she really wanted a date, and of course now that they had one, here she was letting it all out. "Come on Jack, let's hurry!"

"Right behind you, Kim." They rushed down the street, racing for the zoo, and not worrying about their current stressors. They didn't have all the time in the world, but maybe they could appreciate moments like these where they _did_ get an opportunity.

After nearly three hours, the two were returning to Davenport's place. Kim was walking beside him, holding a stuffed panda bear in her arms. He had his arm around her waist and was beaming with pride. The date had been great, they didn't worry _too much_ about everything going on, and were able to spend time just being together. They stopped in front of Davenport's house, not aware of anything besides each other. Kim turned to him and tightened her grip on the bear, smiling at him. He marveled over her sparkling eyes and her rosy cheeks.

"I had a really good time, Jack." Her eyes flicked into his and started to pull him in. She moved a step closer and tilted her head to the right. "It was…nice, to let loose and have some fun. I've been worried about a lot, like my Dad's health. I don't want something to happen to him, I keep saying he's safe over on his digs, but who knows really?"

"Just have faith Kim, I'm sure he'll be fine. Rudy and the others too, we'll get them."

"Yeah, sorry, I know we were trying to take a break from all that. Just…thank you for that break, it was good to relax." She leaned forward and gave him a chaste peck on the lips. His cheeks burned and his eyes grew wide, he'd just been kissed, and he hadn't even seen it coming! When someone cleared their throat, he was snapped back into reality. Over in front of the door was Ciara, tapping her foot and watching them closely. He tugged on his collar and Kim waved. "Hey Ciara, the zoo was fun! It was nice to get away from it all for a moment."

"That's good…" Ciara gently kicked back, opening the door with her foot. She motioned with her head towards the house. "My grandfather got here about twenty minutes ago, he's interested in everything going on…" Jack's heart shot up and he quickly rushed for the door, he did _not_ want to miss this man.

Once inside, they met a man that appeared to be in his late sixties, early seventies. He was bore an Army General's uniform with four stars. His expression was stern, but peaceful, and his eyes were inviting. The wrinkles around his mouth added depth to his frown lines. "You're General Thompson?" Jack was in shock, but honored and intrigued to have a hero of such high stature there before him. "I-I'm _honored_! Grant…Jack Grant. That's my name." He was stuttering on his introductions, and fidgeted with his embarrassment.

"It's good to meet you," General Thompson replied, shaking his hand. The man pulled back and picked up one of the metal devices on the end table. He lowered his eyes to it and cleared his throat. Kim stepped behind Jack and pushed her hair behind her ear, studying the elder with a curious gaze. "While you and lady were out, I was informed of the situation, and told quite a bit by Mr. Davenport. I didn't think we'd be dealing with another worldwide organization so soon, but in my day and age, it seems just about anything is possible."

"So what do you think will happen, Sir?" He wanted to contain his excitement, but it was difficult. He truly loved the military, and this man was one of his heroes, regardless. General Thompson tapped his chin and studied him for a few seconds, humming quietly.

"Ciara has informed me that there is absolutely no way I'm talking any of you out of what it is you're doing, so I won't attempt that. Besides, she's an officer of the military herself, more than capable of taking care of herself and you, so I trust her guidance."

"We do as well, sir." Realizing that he wasn't standing appropriately, he quickly straightened himself and lifted his shoulders up. He couldn't slouch. General Thompson released a sigh at this, and slowly turned, beginning to pace the floor.

"What I can, and will do, is send a message not only to the President, but to the world leaders. Perhaps we can find a way to neutralize this threat. We will wage our war on the Black Dragons, I'll see to it." He turned back to Ciara and motioned for her to move towards him. "Major Ciara Anderson."

Ciara stood at attention and raised a disbelieving eyebrow. "Really? You're using rank to address me? You never do that."

"I do when I'm issuing a military order." Jack stifled a laugh and watched the two with a deathly serious expression. "You're in charge of your team, you know what needs to be done. Train them, take care of them, leave no man behind…locate the prisoners, find a way to infiltrate the Black Dragons and put a stop to their plans, shake their leadership. Can I trust you with this mission?"

"It's no easy task, but yes you can. Or more appropriately, grandfather, should I say 'Yes Sir'?"

General Thompson smiled and closed his eyes. "No need." The man relaxed, which allowed the others to do the same. He wasn't entirely intimidating, but Jack only wanted to show respect. He felt it was important as it was crucial. "I've already sent the information to the President and the other military Generals. We're awaiting his response on what to do right now, but with how politics are, I think your team can act faster than we'll be able to…"

"We'll do our best to take them out," Jack replied. He knew now what he was getting into, and that it was cause for something much greater, but of course he was still scared as hell. He couldn't imagine going after some of the captains on that list they'd been given, and some he just wanted to avoid all together. "Our first step, once Milton and Davenport are done with those cold suits, we'll be going to Antarctica."

"Why there, son?"

"We believe that's where they house their science facilities, and that's where these devices are being mass produced. If we take those out, then we'll have already dealt a blow."

The man hummed once more and began pacing. He slowly tapped his chin and narrowed his eyes. "That's good thinking. It will prevent them from doing anything further. Also anyone with Black Dragon bodyguards, we should see to it that they are removed. What are your suggestions?"

He froze up. Was this General really asking _his_ opinion? "Y-You want my opinion?" The man turned to him and put his hands behind his back.

"Yes. As far as I am concerned, your team is a crucial team in this fight. I want to know your suggestions so that I can consider them."

"Okay…well maybe work from the bottom up. If it's possible, arrest and shut down the city dojos, then take out the Black Dragon leaders in the states. The more you take out, the less people there are to take over when one of the captains is taken out."

"I see…I will consider that when I am thinking of the plans." General Thompson put a steady hand to his shoulder and looked strongly into his eyes. "If we work together here, we can beat this organization. If you need _any_ assistance, I can send my troops over to you in a heartbeat."

"Thank you sir, I will most definitely keep you in mind." This was fantastic, he loved having the military rallying up behind him. After all, it couldn't get much better than having the actual _military_ assisting in a fight against a world organization. More and more, his confidence grew, and he could believe that he would see Rudy and his family again someday.

* * *

Ah General Thompson. Another one of my novel characters that I've worked long and hard on. After a while, you guys will meet the whole slew of my novel characters, Ciara's family. Anyway, what did you think of this chapter?


	14. Family

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 14 (Family)

A tall mansion within the Queen Victoria Islands, the Banks Island, was filled with laughter. Oliver owned this mansion, and many mansions around the world that his Captains, who were his eight closest friends, were free to roam. Currently they were all in the big kitchen, joking and playing a game called _Apples to Apples_. "Anyway, he says to me, 'you won't get away with it', and we've heard that before right? I mean every one of us has heard that before. I'm not so stubborn to think I won't see bumps in the road, sure, but come on…if you're going to say something to the guy that's got you captive, find something that isn't so _typical_ of a captive!" The others laughed with him as he pulled a green card from the green pile, and set it down. "Okay, a word that goes with _Classy_."

Apples to Apples is played with seven red cards in hand, all were of people, places, and things. The green cards were used by the judge, when the judge pulled the green card, which was usually a description word, the players had to put down cards they thought best matched. The judge would decide what they thought matched best, and the winner would get the green card. Five green cards won the round.

The table they were at was a long oval table, large enough to fit the nine of them there were. Oliver was at the head, his closest friends out of the group were seated beside him. Dylan Patrick to his right, and Ernesto Vasco was seated to his left. Dylan was a tanned skinned man in his late twenties. He had blonde hair beneath a white cowboy hat, and light stubble on his chin. His brown eyes scanned the cards in his hands, trying to figure what was the best choice. Ernesto was a Puerto Rican man in his mid twenties, he had short black hair and bright hazel eyes. His index finger brushed his thin moustache as he gazed upon his cards.

"Damn it, I don't have anything," Ernesto complained. "I'm just going to have to put out this one…" He grabbed one of his red cards and dropped it face down beside the green card. Dylan started snickering at his own choice, then tossed it next to the green card.

Beside Dylan, laughing and leaning against his arm, was the beautiful Rin Kamiko. "I think he'll like my choice better than yours, Dillie," Rin joked. Dylan looked at her with a smirking laugh.

"Don't call me that, Rin." He poked her side, causing her to yelp and laugh out.

"No, I'm ticklish!" Rin was closest to Dylan and Fan Daiyu. The Japanese beauty loved to sing, she had a very beautiful voice, and always tried to bring a cheerful attitude in the group. She had her hair down, when she usually had it up in a ponytail. The two tried to hide it, but Oliver could always tell there was something of chemistry between Rin and Dylan.

Fan reached around Rin and smacked Dylan upside the head. "Watch your hands," she scolded. Oliver chuckled as he watched Dylan rub his head. Rin shot Fan a disapproving look. "What? You know what happens when people tickle you too much." Even though they weren't blood, Fan was like Rin's older sister, always protective of her. Of course, she was protective of the whole group.

"Oh they're just having fun," Hilda remarked. Hilda was seated across from Fan. She was usually the most serious of the group, but always lighthearted when it came to being around them. She and Una Mave were both like the mothers, both in their thirties, and both always watched over everyone else. Of course Hilda was closest to Fan and Rin. She wasn't the strongest of the group, having switched her right arm for a metal fist and arm. It was the only thing she fought with, but she was a scientist, so her smarts often helped her out in battles. "Anyway, put down a card already."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" Fan set a card down and Hilda laughed, pushing one of hers forward as well. To Hilda's right, in between her and Ernesto, was Una. Both women were blonde, Una had short hair always up in a bun, while Hilda had long hair that was always had a long swinging ponytail behind her. To Hilda's left was Matata Tapiwa. He was in his late thirties, often the group's most serious, but craziest, fighter. He was the strongest, the leader of the Zulu Warriors in Africa. An army of terrifying soldiers with terrible weapons at their disposal, though Matata always fought with a pair of daggers that he called his 'fangs'.

Matata pulled a single card from his hand with a grunt and pushed it forward to the pile of cards before Oliver. He never talked much, but when he did, he did so with a sense of maturity. He and Chogan were closest amongst the group. "You probably won't select mine."

Chogan sat beside him, directly across from Oliver. He had silver hair in a long braid. He often wore tribal garments from his Indian tribe, as he was an Indian had the Black Dragons and essentially led it for a _long time_ before Oliver. He did have quite a bit of control. "I never win this game," he muttered. A wrinkle formed between his eyes as he studied his cards, he was the last one to put anything down. Once again. "I'm telling you, _none_ of these are 'classy' in my opinion!" The others laughed and Ernesto pushed for him to set something down. "Hey have some patience, I'm slow and old."

"You're not that old," Una remarked. "You're like, what, forty-five? Sixty?"

His face fell flat and his lips thinned. "Forty-eight…I am forty-eight years old." He pulled a card from his grasp and pushed it forward, then took a new green card from the deck. When he saw the card, he groaned with despair. "I could have used this one!"

Oliver chuckled and mixed all the cards together. He honestly didn't know what he'd do without these people, they were all one big, crazy, mixed up family. One time they decided to put him on a dating website, he had to take it down since he didn't have an interest in dating, but even still they would joke about how he needed a woman in his life. Most of them didn't have someone making them happy. Hell, the great majority of them had bad struggles in their lives. So together, this family were there for each other, and they supported each other. Through blood, tears, laughter, they would never truly separate.

They were the only ones he cared about in this crazy mixed up world. Although, he wasn't as heartless as many might think. The biggest reason he wanted to get Jackson was so Miley would at least have her brother. He still despised her for what she did to Lilly, he still blamed her and all the other celebrities in the world for what happened to her.

"Okay, what cards do we have here…" He started to turn over the cards, ready to see what was the classiest. As he turned them over, he called them out. "Frank Sinatra, that seems classy. 'My Butt'…" He raised an eyebrow as Rin laughed, Dylan bowed his head and sighed. Dylan turned to her and whispered. Hilda put her hand over her mouth and tried to stifle her snickering.

"I had nothing. I really had nothing."

Oliver rolled his eyes and smiled as he continued turning them over. "Marriage, Rainforest, Apples, The Beatles, Butterflies, Dirt. Well…dirt might be a bit classy." He shook his head and turned it back over, rejecting it. Matata bowed his head and laughed. "Apples are out as well."

"Told you," Chogan remarked.

"Now now, you're not supposed to let me know who had what." Chogan laughed as Matata pat his back. He studied the remaining cards and removed Marriage, Rainforest, and Butterflies from the pile. "No, no, and heck no." He brought his hand to his chin and begun tapping very slowly. Frank Sinatra and The Beatles were left, and they were both excellent choices. However, he preferred Frank Sinatra any day. "Frank Sinatra wins." Rin jumped up and screamed for joy, laughing as she grabbed the card.

"I win! I win!" Everyone looked at the pile of green cards in front of her, she just took the final card to win the game. They congratulated her and stood up, they were opting to do their own thing now. Oliver raised an eyebrow as Rin took Dylan's wrists and started leading him out of the room, he didn't appear to give any fight. Oliver shook his head and chuckled as Fan shook her head, putting her hands to her hips.

"I guess this means the game's over," Fan said. She and Chogan began cleaning up the game. Oliver looked over to Matata, who was headed out towards the backyard, probably to train. When he wasn't hanging with the guys, he was stretching and training. Oliver had lost many a good sprouted tree due to the man.

Ernesto grabbed a beer from the refrigerator and uncapped it, "I'm going to go sit out on the patio for a while. If anyone needs me…it was a good game." Una moved over to the pots and pans in the kitchen cupboards, she was going to make supper for everyone today. They usually alternated, but she was the best chef.

He felt Hilda's arm around his shoulder and looked over with a smile, she was just a year younger than he was. Her bright eyes were always enchanting to him. She reminded him a lot of Lilly, but he never would act on the attraction that was there. No, Lilly still meant everything to him. "Hey big guy, how are you feeling?" He shrugged and started walking with her into the living room.

"I feel fine, why ask?" He sat on the couch and Hilda moved beside him. She rested her hand on his leg and smiled warmly. He looked down at her soft hand. Her nails were painted red, and mixed well with her snow white skin. Whenever she touched him, it was with her left hand, because he was never overly fond of her iron right arm. He was one of the ones that disagreed with her when she decided to trade her right limb for a prosthetic metal one. She'd listed out the pros and the cons, let everyone vote, and the majority said for her to go ahead and do it, considering it would help her strength in some ways.

"Because I know you…well, we all know you, and we support you. We may or may not agree with killing all the celebrities, but…we still support you. I know finding Jackson was hard on you, and Matata was there. He said you looked upset, do you want to talk about it?" It was funny how they all supported his end goal, even though half of them didn't think killing the celebrities would do anything.

Matata and Chogan were for it only because they were for anything that might lead to mass death. Dylan and Rin, Oliver was never sure why they were there, other than the mere necessity for family. They both had tragedies occur for them and lost their families in separate unrelated cases, so Oliver brought them into his family. They had no one. So Oliver looked after them, as much as he looked after the others. He loved all of them, no doubt about that.

He'd get advice from Chogan and Matata, he was the older brother to everyone else while they were the father and grandfather. Una acted the mother, but she was for the death of the celebrities. She'd once been a model, but when she got older, she was turned down by so many people that she just let her anger get the better of her. Growing up, she did have a lot of anger problems, her mother and father were always fighting, they abused her. They killed her little brother through their abuse, so one day she struck them both down. It was a bloody scene, and she spent a long time running, then finally found Oliver and the others.

Ernesto spent his childhood stealing small items with his older brother in an attempt to pay for medical expenses for their mother and several younger siblings. One day they stole from the wrong person, some small time actor banded with a store owner, they came in, and slaughtered the family. Ernesto's last memory was of his brother pushing him out the window just before being shot down. He was for the extermination of celebrities, but he wasn't crazy.

Fan didn't think the deaths would do any good, but she was there mostly for Rin. The two grew up in an orphanage. Fan was from China, but since China had this obscene rule about people not being allowed to have more than one child, her parents abandoned her in a Japanese orphanage. She met Rin there, Rin was the meek and timid child always mocked by the other children, so Fan protected her, becoming her orphan sister. The two stuck together through everything, and when Oliver took Rin in, Fan came along for the ride.

Now Hilda, there wasn't much reason for her to be here, but they needed a scientist. She'd spent most of her teenage years in science labs, and one day her family just upped and left, abandoning her. When Oliver and the others found her, she was ready to die. He took her in.

"What are you thinking about, Oliver?" She asked with full concern. "Why were you upset?"

"I don't know…I just, it was hard seeing Jackson again. I know he was moving on with his life, and yeah he didn't know his sister was still alive, but…"

"Miley saw her father die, she saw her bodyguard die, she lost everything. That's why you fought so hard to get Jackson, right?" He lifted his shoulders, his chest fell slowly and he moved his head back against the couch. He shut his eyes and breathed out from his nostrils.

"Everyone thinks there's still a part of me left from those days, but really there isn't. I died when Lilly died, when that unborn child died." His father had already left him with his mother so long ago, and when informed that Lilly was pregnant, the man just scoffed. He hadn't heard from his father ever since, and even when his mother died, the man never called. His mom had some pretty bad mental problems and was a drunkard, she would yell at him constantly and drink too much, eventually she drank herself to death. His father didn't have balls enough to call. "It's like all these Black Dragons call me _Double O_. That's who I am now…'Oliver Oken' is long dead. I had everything going for me when Lilly said she was pregnant, god I was so happy…I was fucking _alive_. Then…I lost it all…"

His heart cried and his muscles tensed. Not a day went by that he didn't think about her, not a day went by he didn't dream of what it would have been like to hold that baby. "If Miley had just…if only she decided to _help_ her best friend…maybe she'd still _be _here."

"I know…" He felt her arms around him, comforting him. He stopped his sobbing and reached up, hugging her back. He did not enjoy crying, he felt too masculine for that, but these people taught him that it was okay. Even Matata would shed tears, though in private.

Everyone would have to leave to their own countries soon, to stay in one of his provided homes for them. He hated when they left, because then he felt so alone. Sometimes one of them would suggest he come stay with them for a while, and he would. "Are you going back to Antarctica tomorrow?" When he thought of her going back there, he would feel an ache in his gut, something that told him to tell her to stay away from Antarctica.

"I have to, I need to make sure the scientists there are doing their jobs." She smiled at him and reached up, running her fingers through his hair, tickling his head. "You seem so worried about me going back there, but don't be. I've been there a million times, Oliver, there's nothing there but the cold, penguins, and the scientists."

"Yeah, that is true. I don't know what I'm worried about, to be honest." She chuckled softly and looked over to the kitchen. "I'm going to go help Una with the food…are you going to be okay?"

"I'll be fine, Hilda." They rose to their feet and hugged once more. "I'm going to go check on Dylan and Rin."

"Okay then."

He moved upstairs to where Dylan's room was, the door was shut. He reached for the doorknob and stopped when he heard voices, Rin was still with him. "You do have a beautiful voice, Rin," Dylan complimented, "I don't know why you're so insecure about it."

"I don't know, it's just…growing up in that orphanage, people always mocked me. Whatever I did, it was never good enough. Mom left my dad behind when he had an affair, Dad was murdered by that woman's husband, and I was only four years old when thrust into that orphanage. You know that…always shy, so I was easy."

"Well don't be so scared to be yourself. You're beautiful, you're lovely, intelligent, and in all honesty, the sweetest person I know." Oliver saw the door cracked just a bit, so he peered in with a smile. Rin was blushing and Dylan was holding onto her hand. He'd been thinking that they should take a break from all this, to go out on a date. They deserved it. Still, he didn't know what Rin or Dylan were doing here, they didn't have malice in their hearts. They were _good_, _innocent_. They were unlike Una, who had killed her abusive parents, or Ernesto who stole from people, albeit to help his mother's health. They were far from Chogan and Matata, who were war lovers. They never did anything wrong, they didn't get into fights like Fan did, either. Granted, Fan only did so due to her protective personality. "I think anyone that doesn't see it, anyone that says otherwise, is a fool. The biggest fool I know."

"Really?" She leaned in towards him and rested her head on his shoulder. "Do you really believe that?"

"Without a doubt." Oliver smiled and reached up, knocking on the door. Dylan's head shot up and he quickly called for him to come in. Oliver pushed the door open and met their eyes. "What's going on, Oliver?"

"Just checking on you two…You both have been pretty tense lately, I think it's all this work. Take a break." They looked baffled, unsure whether or not he was serious. He rubbed his neck and smiled brightly at the two. "Go on a date or something, take a break."

"A-A date? Really?"

"Yeah, why not? You two are close enough." Dylan and Rin exchanged joyful gazes and looked back to him. "Like I said, I _want_ you two to relax. You don't _have _to be involved in all this right now. Hilda's going back to Antarctica soon, and the others are going off to do their own things, so there's no reason you two can't spend some quality time together."

"We'll…we'll think about that."

Hilda called for Oliver and he quickly moved downstairs for her, leaving the two to talk amongst themselves. He was disheartened to see Hilda with such a forlorn expression on her face. "I have to get going Oliver, I got an emergency call from some of the scientists."

"What's wrong?" He moved towards her and she lifted her shoulders.

"Apparently that kid, Chase, is acting weird. I have to go and charge his bionic chip for them, the lead scientists forgot how to do it." He groaned and Hilda chuckled, it was too hard for him to hide the concern. "I know you don't want me to go, but I'll be _fine_." She reached up and kissed his cheek. His eyes widened for a second and a blush quickly flooded his cheeks. "Bye, Oliver, I have to leave right _now_."

"O-Okay…just stay safe." He reached up to his cheek as she turned away and hurried off. As he turned around, he saw Fan, Ernesto, and Una watching him with knowing smirks. He cleared his throat and started to walk off. "It was nothing. Mind your own business…" They laughed and moved on their way, what a family this was.

* * *

What did you think, learning about the captains? There's a heck of a lot more background to come, and it seems Hilda is one of the ones getting through to Oliver, huh? Now she's off to Antarctica. Isn't someone else going there as well?


	15. New Man of the House

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 15 (New Man of the House)

"I know it sucks, but you have to eat something," Rudy said as he sat outside with Miley. She was seated beside him on the bench, her hand on her arms. She was shaking her head and glaring down at what appeared to be left over meat chunks in some sort of disgusting thick gravy. One of the other prisoners, known as Will, was standing next to them. He was one of the ones here the longest, so he knew most of what was going on with Miley in recent years. Rudy looked up at him. "What is this shit, anyway? It looks like dog food."

"It's what the guards bring on a daily basis," Will complained. Rudy groaned and shivered. The plates they ate off of didn't seem all that clean either, but at least the guards were generous enough to bring plates and silverware. "It's got _some_ nutritional value and whatnot, but it isn't the best for building up strength or anything like that. There's better fruit and stuff outside, we see guards eating fruits and berries all the time." Rudy frowned and slowly looked at the door, he'd been having a few ideas, but he never knew there were _good_ fruits and stuff out there.

"Why won't my sister eat anything?" He looked at Miley and watched her timid gaze move to his. Her dried and cracked lips quivered as though she wanted to speak, but she quickly shook her head and looked away. "Miley? Come on…you have to get up your strength. I know it's hard, I know it's hopeless, but you have to keep trying!" He tried to wrack his brain, hoping something would give, and suddenly he had an idea. "Do you remember your song, _The Climb_?" Miley closed her eyes and let out one brisk sob. "What was that about, sis? Tell me…"

He'd been trying and trying ever since he got here to get _something_ from her. He knew the song was about persistence, never giving up, and pushing forward even when it all seemed hopeless. "Struggles," she muttered. "It was…about struggles and persistence…"

"Exactly! You can't give up. _I'm_ not going to give up on you." The other prisoners around them were doing their own thing, seeing as how they thought it was all hopeless as well. Will didn't seem too worried, he hadn't given up like them.

"Every hope she had, she lost when she saw her father killed. Even that Double O guy was upset over that." Really? Oliver had been _upset_ over that? Rudy shook his head and brushed it off, not really concerned about Oliver right now. "She ate less, eating only when she knew she needed to, and stopped being active." He grimaced and quickly looked back to the door. He was scared for her health, fearful that she might waste away.

"I'm not going to let you get any weaker, Miley…you need to keep up your strength."

"That's hard for any of us to do, Rudy." He looked back to Will, narrowing his eyes with determination. "The guards come in here with their fruits, berries, they show off in front of all of us. The motivation and desire to eat, or even to work out, it's gone. There's no sense of betterment for anyone, because the guards make them feel weak and pathetic. Muscles atrophy, health dries up, and there _have_ been prisoners here that have actually died because they stopped eating and keeping their body in shape."

"Well _I'm_ not going to let that happen. I'm going to show _all_ of you the benefits of keeping your body in tip top shape…" Miley's eyes widened as he slowly walked towards the door. There were no cameras out here, and he knew the guard's schedule. They expected weaklings. Will eyed him suspiciously and pushed himself from the wall.

"What the hell are you thinking?"

"I know we can't escape this crummy island, but if I can just get out this door, then I can find some of those fruits, nuts, and berries…" Miley screamed out and Will hurried forward.

"Are you _crazy_?"

"No! I have to do this…I'm not letting my sister waste away and kill herself." He looked to Miley and started walking forward. He put his hands gently to her face and gazed into her sad brown eyes. "Miley…think about that song of yours. Just have faith, I'll come back. I won't let anything happen to you, or the others." She started to whimper as he pulled away. He felt her grab his hand, pleading for him with her gaze. The other prisoners all watched astonishingly as he tore himself away and moved beside the door. "Get that shovel ready, Will…I have a plan…Matata and Oliver said all the guards had remotes for those guns, and keys for this door. I'll get out, but _no one_ needs to try to escape."

"None of us will," another prisoner called out. "People die out there!"

"That's why I won't go too far." He moved his eyes to a shovel in the corner of the square. The prisoners had it because they had to bury their own whenever they died. His father was buried in the corner where he first saw Miley at. He narrowed his eyes as he heard the deadbolts on the door starting to unlock. The guard was coming to feed them their 'slop'. None of these prisoners have ever been daring or brave, he understood a lot of that had been because the guards killed their hopes and courage. Well, they hadn't done anything to him. "Sis, forgive me for what I'm about to do here, it's the only thing that I can do. I'm a third degree black belt, so don't you guys worry about me."

He had to kill the guard, they couldn't risk him telling another guard. There were so many on the island, who would notice? If anyone tried to attack them for it, he'd kick their asses. The guard opened the door and walked in with a large tray of food for them. He sneered and set it on the ground. "Here's your shit for the day. Enjoy." Miley slowly walked over to the food and peered down.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why can't we ever have anything good?" The guard laughed and slowly closed his eyes.

"Good? You want _good_? This is about as _good_ as you're going to get." In a split second, the guard pushed her down and moved her face towards the food. She whimpered and several prisoners ran over for her. Hate fueled Rudy's blood and he quickly reached over, grabbing the guard's head. "What the-" He twisted the head to the right, and with a quick snap, the guard collapsed on the ground. The prisoners gasped and stared with wide eyes as Rudy knelt beside the now dead guard.

"Do not treat my sister that way, bastard." He looked over his shoulder at the automatic gun towers outside, then back to the guard. Inside the man's chest was the remote, and the keys to the door. "I'll be taking these, thank you…" He grabbed the items and looked up at Miley, who was shivering and breathing heavily. "Miley, I'll be right back, okay?" She slowly nodded her head as Will moved over towards her. "Will, look after her. I won't be gone long."

"Okay Rudy…" The man pointed at one of the prisoners, then motioned to the shovel. "Pete, grab the shovel, we have some digging to do."

Once Rudy made sure the guns were off and the door was locked, he moved carefully along the perimeter of the building. He studied the trees and grass carefully and slid into the jungle. His mind was focused solely on revitalizing his sister, and the others in that prison. He was at least going to train them with martial arts if possible, so they could at least protect themselves. As tempting as it was to try and find a way off the island, he wasn't that daring right now. He believed Oliver when he said the only way on or off was by helicopter.

As time went on, he discovered a very large basket hidden among the trees. He decided to use this and marked his way around so he wouldn't get lost. This basket would be great for holding fruits, nuts, and berries. He needed to provide them with the proper proteins and nutrients, and was already grabbing fruits such as bananas, peaches, pears, and every nut he found, he grabbed. Pecans and walnuts were among the best. The trail he was taking, he would have to remember. He could hide the food in his cell, he'd been told the guards never go back there.

All the prisoners cared about Miley, so he knew they wouldn't be stingy. They all wanted her to build her body back up, this was shown as often as they tried to get her to eat the leftovers they had left.

"I wish I could find them some meat," he huffed while looking about the trees. "That's impossible here…" They didn't have anything to cook the meat with anyway, but that was fine. The nuts would provide the protein. He'd also been able to find many great berries around that he knew were good. He'd spent years in the woods when he was training with his martial arts teacher, so all these health things, he'd learned. He never thought a day would come that he had to use these survival techniques, but now he was grateful that they truly did pay off.

Once his basket was completely full, and he was sure this would last for a few days, he carefully made his way back to the compound. He managed to sidestep anything that looked like a trap, and remain hidden within the shadows and trees, keeping out of sight from any guards roaming the grounds.

When at the door, he quickly unlocked it and opened it up. The others were astonished to see him, and with such a large basket. He turned the guns back on and locked the door up, amazed that the lock was truly a two way. He'd been worried that it only locked from the outside. "All that fruit," Will muttered. "Miley, your brother's back with food!" Miley was back in her corner, huddled in a ball with her head buried in her knees and her arms around her legs. She looked up at him with a tearful cry. He smirked and set the fruit basket down on the bench.

"Yep. Miley, please come here?" She carefully stood and walked over, throwing her arms around him. Some of the other prisoners tried to test their own strength by picking up the basket, but failed miserably. He chuckled and glanced about them. "My little sister eats first, okay? After that, the weakest eat next…I want everyone to have a fair share, this basket should last us a few days. I'll keep it locked up in my cell, that way, no one gets greedy."

"Sounds good to me," Will replied. The others agreed. Rudy led Miley over to the basket, reached in, and grabbed a peach. He saw her eyes light up at the sight and he carefully moved the sweet, delicate fruit her way.

"I want you to eat, I want you to build your strength up. All of you, but you especially, Miley…so please…" The juicier fruits, such as the peach, would also provide some water for them. At least the meat in the stuff the guards brought had some of the essential nutrients that meat provided, so there wasn't much complaint there. "Eat."

Miley took the peach in her shaky hands, and Rudy placed a palm underneath her. She was practically dropping the fruit, a sign that there was a lot of work to be done. He helped guide it to her mouth and watched with joy as she bit in. She chewed slowly and released a shuddering whimper as the juice cleansed her lips. She was experiencing heaven in the form of a peach. "I have some pecans, some walnuts, I've found blackberries and blueberries, I've found many varieties of fruit…when all of you start getting some of these nutrients in your body…I want to start building your muscles too."

"So what, you're going to become our physical trainer?" Will asked with a subtle smirk. "Whip us into shape or something?"

"That's exactly it. You _need_ to keep up your strength. I know it's hard, but I'm going to at least try to motivate you. You need your health…I won't let these guards push you around. Eventually you'll all be strong enough, maybe we can survive this island until _someone_ decides to rescue us." The other prisoners nodded and he put an arm around Miley's shoulder, watching as she continued to eat the peach. For the first time, she was smiling. He'd never felt prouder than he did in this moment.

* * *

What do you guys think? Rudy did well?


	16. Taking out the Machines

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 16 (Taking out the Machines)

The day arrived that Jack and the others were to step foot in Antarctica. They were all wearing silver-white leotards to blend in with the icy environment of the continent. The leotards had a skintight hood that framed their heads, revealing only their faces. When the plane landed, Jack opened the door and gazed outside at the bitter icy winds that blew around them. He looked over his shoulders at the others and pressed his lips tight together. "Whatever happens, we have to stick together. When we find the places producing these machines, we have to destroy them."

From what they understood, there were three main bases within a five mile radius, each had a large machine that was spitting these devices out at high speeds. Through studying the surroundings before arrival, they found there was a main building in the dead center. This was where the lead scientist, Captain Hilda, was located. They wanted to stay away from that building if at all possible, but understood there to be a chance they would have to hit it. "Ciara, be ready to cut down anyone necessary. Everyone else…do the same, but above all else, be safe." The others quickly nodded and followed him outside.

Jack was amazed when the suit began to heat up and shelter them from the frigid temperatures. They, of course, wore these suits beneath their uniforms. He could fill the freezing wind upon his face, chilling his cheeks and lips, but the suit was keeping the rest of his body well heated. Eddie complimented Milton on the hard work.

"There's three buildings to hit," Kim reminded the group and turned to them to offer her suggestions. "Three machines, there are six of us, I think we ought to split up and take these things out." That sounded to be a good idea, he was certain nothing would go wrong. Of course, he wanted to be certain that Milton and Eddie had a good fighter with them. Kim looked over her shoulder and lifted up her hand to him. "What do you think, Jack? Split up, take them all out in one foul swoop?"

"It's better, since chances are, taking them out one by one will eventually alert the scientists to a problem. Taking them all out at once will keep them from filling up a particular building to wait for us to go after them." He crossed his arms and breathed in the frigid air, coughing as it threatened to freeze his throat. He beat his chest and quickly shook his head. "Sorry about that. Anyway, there might be a switch of some sort that shuts these machines off. If so, find that switch, and _destroy _it. Don't leave it to be turned on again."

"Sounds good to me," Jerry declared. "Who's teaming up with who? You and Kim are together, obviously?" Jack rubbed his chin and shifted his gaze to Milton and Eddie.

"No…no, everyone needs to be balanced out. Eddie, you're with Ciara. If she loses her sword, you need to pick up the slack until she gets it back." Eddie agreed and stepped beside Ciara, well pleased to be with the sword fighter. Jack pointed to Milton, then motioned to Kim. "Milton, you're with Kim. Take the building in the center. Jerry, you're with me."

"All right! Sounds good!" Jerry moved beside him and started looking around. He pointed behind Jack and cleared his throat. "Look! A shed, I think those are snowmobiles inside." Jack turned back and smirked. They were fortunate enough to land the jet near a large brown shack with several snowmobiles positioned inside.

"Always with the good eyes…okay, let's get going!" They hurried to the shack. Before their arrival, Jack had some of Bobby's ninjas come to Antarctica and scout out where the scientists were. These ninjas provided a map for them, which was excellent. Jack and Jerry hopped into a sleek snowmobile with a black stripe, while Ciara and Eddie moved into one with a blue stripe, Milton and Kim chose the purple striped one. Jack took the map from in between his uniform and the suit, grateful the wind wasn't rushing in to tear the map from them.

"Where are we headed?" Ciara asked. The map had the Captain's quarters marked in the center with a circle and ex. Their landing was just a few miles south of the buildings. North of the Captain's quarters was the building with the fewest captains. The building due east about five miles of the captain's building was where a few scientists worked on a machine that was pumping out devices faster than the rest. The building due west had the majority of scientists, but Chase was there. Jack had the electric device needed to short circuit Chase's bionic chip and put him out of commission long enough for them to get him on the jet and back to Davenport.

"Milton and Kim, you head to the building due north of the Captain's quarters." He didn't want Milton going to one of the ones with more scientists and more chances of fighting, because Milton was the weakest member of the group. They needed his brain. "Ciara and Eddie, go to the building due east. Jerry and I will go to the one towards the west."

With that, they set off, no questions asked. They each had a radio and ear piece to communicate in the case of trouble. Jack was fully prepared to go help any of them if need be. "Hey Jack, how come you put Milton with Kim?" Jack glanced back to Jerry, questioning what he meant. "I mean Milton's not the best of us, and you're the best, so…"

"Kim's a better fighter than I am, Jerry." There was no denying she was the better of the two, she could easily beat him down if need be. "She and Milton can handle themselves, have faith."

"Okay. Now, about Chase…what do we do when we put him out? Do we just leave him until we're ready to leave?" He hadn't given much thought to it, but he did think it was best to leave him be. "Also, do we need to kill anyone?"

"Only those that are attacking us persistently without backing down or giving up…" As much as he wanted to avoid killing anyone, these people were all criminals that were promoting a very dangerous crime. There was no chance in hell that he was letting them go. "We have to do whatever it takes to stop them, but first…let's try to destroy the machine without drawing attention."

"Ah! Incognito…okay, I can do that."

"Good."

Jack parked the snowmobile behind the building and pressed himself flat against the outside wall. Jerry did the same. Between them was a glass window, so they carefully peered inside. What they saw was a large metal room with a huge machine in the center, pumping these devices out onto an assembly line, which flowed into these giant metal bins. Scientists walked about with clipboards and pens in their hands. Then they spotted Chase, his back was to the window, and he was barking out orders for the scientists.

It was heartbreaking to see someone being forced into something against their will, and he had hoped these scientists were being forced, but there wasn't any evidence that said they were. "J-Jack, they're surrounding the machine."

"Now hold on…" He moved his eyes along a thick black cord attached to the back of the machine. It ran along the floor and up some metal steps onto a steel floor walkway that led to the other end of the building. There was a red button beneath a metal frame guard. Above was a sign. Thinking fast, he reached into the pack he'd brought with him and pulled a pair of binoculars out. "Let's see here." Jerry watched him with silence. He had a hunch, but didn't think they would be so _obvious_.

As he zoomed in on the sign, he read the words: _In case of extreme emergency, press self destruct_. He blinked several times and looked over to his perplexed friend. He put his hand to his shoulder and ducked down, then flipped on his radio to speak to the others. "There is a button on a walkway floor that appears to be a self destruct button. It is attached to the machines…"

He did realize that there was _some_ thought put to it, it would be a daunting task to get up there in the first place. He heard his friends confirm his statement, then moved back up to the window. It was killing him to figure how to sneak inside. If they just walked in the front door, the scientists would likely go charging for them.

When Jerry commented about Chase no longer being inside, his heart thumped loudly in his chest. He scanned the room, then backed from the window. "Shit, we couldn't have been spotted." He saw Jerry stiffen up. The man started pointing anxiously behind him. He turned around and nearly fell back, Chase was glaring at him, arms crossed. The boy's red eyes were hidden beneath his shaggy brown bangs, and his lips were twisted into a terrifying scowl.

"Is there something that I can help you two with?" Chase asked. Jack reached for the electric device in his pocket and narrowed his gaze. All he had to do was strike Chase in the back of the head, towards the center area where the top of the neck met the head. The question was, how would he get there? "Are you interfering with our production of the hypnodisks?"

"That's what you're calling those things?" Jack and Jerry prepared themselves for a coming fight, and Chase slowly moved into fighter stance, clenching his fists tight and growling. "Do you realize what you did to your family, Chase?" Chase lifted his shoulders and scoffed.

"I prefer not to think about that." Jack raised his eyebrows and huffed, he wasn't surprised to see Chase ignoring the memory. As if he really had much choice to do so, it was still his family, and he'd torn them apart. Sure it wasn't his fault, but he shouldn't just forget them and throw them away. "Thinking about them causes me grief."

"Oh, is that so?" Was he to assume that thinking of his family might be a way around the problem with the bionic chip? "You know Adam and Bree still haven't woken up." Chase clenched his fists tighter and started to growl. "Your stepmom and stepbrother are still out, haven't woken for months."

"Shut the fuck up." Chase charged for the two. Jack and Jerry sidestepped in opposite directions, then kicked back, striking Chase in the lower back. Chase screamed out and flipped around, narrowing his eyes. "You have no right to talk about them."

"No, I think _you_ have no right to talk about them," Jerry remarked. "You're the one that did it to them." Guilt flashed through Chase's eyes. He put his hand to his forehead and shook his head, sighing angrily. "You know, if it wasn't for Davenport keeping them alive with some of his devices, they would all be dead."

"I had no control, don't you dare put it on me!" He sliced his arm through the air, his chest puffed out and in rapidly as his breathing grew rapid and shallow. "You don't know what happened. I don't have control, so you can go screw yourself."

"Hey Chase, you know that electronic computer friend of Davenport's? It's gone, apparently it died. Davenport himself is dying, he hasn't eaten, hasn't invented anything…he's just so helpless and alone right now."

"I'm needed _here_. I'm the one that knows these devices in and out. _I'm_ the one that knows how to recreate those machines if they fail, I created everything. I'm needed here, these scientists don't know shit without me."

"Oh what, your family doesn't need you?" Jerry started walking forward, keeping his eyes locked with Chase's. Jack watched closely, ready to spring into action if something happened. "What will happen if Davenport's health fails him and he dies? If he dies, then so will Bree, Adam, and your step family…It will be all your fault."

"The hell you know." Chase swung at Jerry, but he grabbed Chase's arm before he could. In an instant, Jerry turned around, holding Chase's arm over his shoulder. "What are you-" Jerry bent forward, sending Chase screaming over head, and landing flat in the snow. Thinking fast, Jerry quickly put a boot to Chase's neck. "Get off me!"

"No. Since you don't give a shit about your family, maybe I should kill you now." Chase's eyes widened and he quickly grabbed for Jerry's foot, screaming as he tried in vain to push his leg away.

"I _care_ about them, okay!"

"That's quite a change." Jack slowly gripped the electric device and started moving for Chase, stopping only when he saw tears. "I don't believe you. I think you'd be willing to let the Black Dragons go in and kill them."

"What? No! _Never!"_ Chase cried out, still pushing with all his might. Whatever steel boots Jerry was wearing, Jack wanted. "I-I love my family, I would never let anyone hurt them!"

"They already have," Jack said in a quiet whisper. Chase started shaking his head, crying out. "And they used you to do it. Bree and Adam are slowly dying, Leo and his mom show no signs of waking up, and the Black Dragons made you do it all."

"N-No…I couldn't…I…" Chase's arms fell back onto the ice and his eyes gazed up into the cold, unforgiving sky. "I did…" He whimpered and begun to sob. "They-They would never forgive me. I can't forgive myself. It would take so long to wake them. Oh god, all those missions we did together…all those fun school days, family vacations, everything…." Jack hummed and looked up to Jerry, meeting his eyes. This was what Davenport was going to do to reverse the chip, attempt to show Chase a flashback of all his memories. He believed the way the bionic chip had been reversed had wiped out all the good memories.

"You remember those times?"

"Yes…"

"You're family. They'd forgive you, I'm sure." Chase clenched his eyes shut and sobbed harder.

"No they wouldn't, you don't understand. What we did to them…it would take months, maybe years to wake them all up." Jack pressed his lips together and slowly glanced to the side. He knew Chase was in a lot of pain, but he couldn't give up now.

"Your father still needs you. He would forgive you if you went back to him, believe me. He wants you back, specifically asked us to bring you back."

"He…did?"

"Yes. If you want to help Leo and the others, to bring them back, to avenge them…" He peered down to see Chase's eyes returning to normal. The bionic chip was reversing itself, there was no need for the electric device. He nearly leapt for joy, but restrained himself. "Help us destroy these things, don't allow anymore to be produced."

"I…" Chase slowly wiped his tears with his arms. His eyes now filled with new determination, and hope, but also a sliver of guilt that remained. "I will."

"Good, because when we're done here…we're going to take you back to your father. You two need to do something, hide yourselves or protect yourselves." He reached down to help Chase up. Chase grabbed his hand and Jack quickly pulled him up. Jerry dusted down Chase's back. "How long do you think it would take to wake your siblings?"

"I don't know, but the only way to save them…is to get rid of their bionic chips. They'll remain asleep as their bodies adjust without them, they'll awaken on their own." He bowed his head and clenched his fists, muttering under his breath. "Those damn Dragons, they're snakes…stay out here, I'll go in and press the button. The scientists won't see it coming…"

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What did you think?


	17. One Captain Down

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N: FOR THE GUEST: Since I can't answer via PM I answer here. Though it's for everyone who's curious about the subject as well: As the author here I am a _tad_, just a tiny bit offended by the statement that we need more Jack/Kim moments. There are and will be _plenty_ of those moments in this story (Including a bit in the future where Jack goes through an entire fight for her), but please remember that while there _will be_ romance in this story, the story itself is _not_ a romance story. Romance does not drive the story, it doesn't determine the path. This story is an adventure in which case they are trying to basically save the world. Please respect that and enjoy the story for what it is, there will be _plenty_ of romance involved between Jack and Kim, believe me, there will be! Now, enjoy this chapter ^_^

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Chapter 17 (One Captain Down)

Jack watched as Chase walked back around the building. As he peered in the window, he heard Kim and Ciara come over their radios, announcing that they managed to destroy the machines in their buildings. The one Ciara went into was a bloodbath now, considering the scientists started attacking. She sliced through quite a few of them while Eddie pounded his way through, taking a lot of abuse. It was a damn good thing Eddie was a tank.

He directed them to start heading over to where he was, that they managed to reverse Chase's bionic chip without the electric device. Inside, Chase was well ignored by the scientists. He made his way up the metal steps and towards the button, the scientists still didn't pay him any mind. Were they that stupid? Perhaps not, perhaps they were just oblivious or scared of him. Either way, with every step he took, Jack's heart pounded just a bit harder. "Is he about to have to fight off those scientists?" Jerry asked curiously.

"Good question…" Could Chase handle them? They would have to go in and help him most likely. As soon as the man reached the button, he flipped the lid and clenched up his fist. The scientists now begun to take notice and begun calling for him to stop, to not press that button, and a few began running up the steps. Chase hit the button just as the scientists started reaching him. In that moment, he started kicking and punching, tossing scientists over the rail. "He's not that bad…" Jerry chuckled and pointed towards the machine.

The machine was smoking, cracking, and the devices were no longer moving about. Immediately the scientists began screaming, the machine was about to blow! Chase gripped the rails and flipped over them, landing safely on the floor below. He swept his hair back and ran out of the building just as the machine exploded, blowing several scientists back against the walls. Finally, those objects would no longer be produced, but now it was up to Chase to remain safe and out of the Dragon's grasp. Before Jack could relax, however, he heard a sharp scream from behind and was grabbed around the neck by an iron fist.

"What are you _doing!" _Screamed the woman. Jack cried out as her grip started crushing his windpipe. She threw him into the snow, causing him to bounce several times along the hard ice. He let out a sharp cry as Jerry ran towards him. When he looked up, he saw a woman with a long blonde ponytail sweeping over her shoulders. Her eyes were narrow, and her prosthetic right arm was clenched tight. His heart spiked with terror as he started backing up on his palms and feet.

"It's Hilda! The captain!" Indeed it was her, and she was enraged. Hilda shot forward and slammed her fist next to his head, shattering the ice.

"All those people, then the machines? Why would you kill the scientists? Then all our hard work!" He rolled to the side and shot up to his feet, chuckling nervously as her deadly eyes burned into his soul. She didn't look ready to kill him, not at all, she was only angry. She had the same look Milton usually had when one of his works was destroyed. "They had families."

Jerry started to kick. Jack shouted out in protest, not wanting to fight Hilda at the moment, but it was too late. Hilda grabbed Jerry's ankle with her right hand, clamping down on him. She let out a loud shriek and yanked him back. "Jerry!" Jerry screamed out and started tumbling across the ice. If they weren't careful, that ice could break their bones. Hilda began walking towards Jack, making him move backwards, shivering under her fierce glare.

"Okay, so I understand you just wanted to get rid of those device things, but did you have to kill all the scientists in the process?" Okay, so that could have gone better, but there honestly wasn't a choice! "They didn't deserve it, now their families are going to think they abandoned them…"

"Leave him alone!" Jerry exclaimed. Jack's fear shot up as Jerry started running towards her. He performed a jump kick into Hilda's back, forcing her down into the ground. She let out a loud scream and jumped up, grabbing Jerry's throat. She glared at him and threw him into the window of the building. She twisted back around and growled at Jack, narrowing her deadly glare. He held his hands up in defense and chuckled nervously.

"Listen, I know you're pissed, I would have liked to avoid all of that, but we had to take out the machines." He would normally want to fight, but he noticed something disturbing. Her eyes were full of sorrow. What was the problem here? Why did she seem _this_ upset? What was this about abandonment? "Seriously, lady, what's the problem?" She swept her eyes before tears sprouted, and began to shout at him.

"I wouldn't expect you to know!" She slammed her iron fist into his chest. He fell back and put his hand to his chest as pain stung him. He was winded, impressed by how strong that arm was. "This science is all that I have, those scientists are also all I have, I'd never abandon them and I'd certainly never abandon my projects. I know it might be better the machines don't exist, but we don't need to make more of those disks, but come on, the scientists? Why would you just abandon them as if they were not important?"

"Abandon?" Was she abandoned? No, he couldn't just make assumptions like those. He slowly rose to his feet and studied her gaze. She acted like the project was her on child, her own flesh and blood, or like those scientists were as well. He didn't ignore them, he knew many probably were innocent, and that was the trouble with what they had to do. They were still _evil._ "You think by destroying the project, that it's being abandoned or something?" She scoffed and swept her ponytail behind her.

"Like I said, I wouldn't expect you to understand. Like this arm I made for myself, all my projects are my life, my soul. They saved me when I needed them…" Jack furrowed his brow and looked past her. He was shocked to see Kim and Ciara running for her. He wanted to talk to Hilda some more, to try to understand what was going on. "I love my-" In an instant, Ciara's sword slashed down through Hilda's right shoulder.

Everything froze, the air rushed away in a single moment, stealing all the sound besides the heavy arm crashing down into the ground. Hilda's eyes widened and a fierce scream left her lips. With a tearful cry, she spun towards Ciara. Jack remembered the Intel about her, that she could not fight without that arm. He started to say something, but just as Hilda charged for Ciara, she'd fallen onto the woman's blade. "No!"

Ciara let out a scream of fright and pulled her sword back. Hilda fell onto her knees, then backwards beside her metal arm. Jack screamed out and turned to Ciara, he was angry with her. "What did you do? I was reasoning with her!" It wasn't Ciara's fault, he understood, she was just trying to help him. Ciara cleaned her blade and sheathed it, sighing with disgust.

"I didn't know…Hilda is…she reminded me of one of the leaders in Paragon. A German woman who had a prosthetic limb that she used, nearly killed every one of us with it. Eventually we won out, but…it was a hard fight…"

"God…" Jack cupped his hand over his mouth and gazed down at Hilda. His gut was quickly becoming a canyon of guilt and sorrow, he was hoping maybe she could have been reasoned with. Maybe she could have been saved. "She said something about abandonment…I didn't know…what she meant. That her science projects, she fell in love with, something like that. She wasn't fighting me because we were trying to stop her, she was fighting for her lost project."

He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked back to see Jerry. Eventually the whole group was surrounding him, everyone was feeling pretty shitty for some reason. No one understood why. It should have been a momentous occasion, destroying the machines that created all those devices, but they couldn't feel happiness whatsoever.

"Come on, let's just go…we need to get Chase back to Mr. Davenport…we'll let the military investigate."

_"No. They're gone. They're gone too…"_ Hilda groaned painfully as the ice below her turned red with her blood. The group left before they realized she was still alive. _"Abandoned again_…_"_ She shouldn't have gotten so angry, but she hadn't been able to help herself.

She was only fifteen when her family abandoned her in the Swiss Alps, when she called for them, they explicitly told her they meant to leave her there. Hilda let a tear escape her eyes as the vivid memories started flashing through her mind. She cried weakly and moved her free hand along her body, pushing her fingers into the hole in the space between her ribs on the upper right side of her chest, opposite her heart. Her cries grew stronger and her eyes clenched shut.

Fifteen years old, wondering around all scared and alone. She found a science lab somewhere, and instantly she was drawn into it. She'd won science fairs as a little girl, so this was like heaven for her. As she began working, letting the science become her life, she spent years working in that lab. It was home to her, and the owner had become like a surrogate father.

One day, when she was in her twenties, a suicide bomber entered the shop, she'd been home sick. When she got the news, she ran as fast as her legs could carry her, only to fall at the site of the blown and burnt building. Everything she ever worked on, gone. The owner had been killed. She spent a good year weeping, finally insisting that she take her own life.

That was when _he_ found her, that man she'd fallen so hard for. His name left her cold lips, and her wet eyes gazed up at the cold, unforgiving skies. She would give so much to see him in her vision this time, to see him here to save her from the hands of death.

_"Hey, are you okay?" Hilda opened her watery eyes and swept her tearstained cheeks with the back of her hand. She was laying back on a sheet of ice and snow, waiting for the pills to take her from this world. There before her was a handsome man with dark hair and beady brown eyes. "What's going on?"_

_ "I'm taking my life…"_

_ "Why the hell are you doing that?"_

_ "I have nothing." The man put his hands beneath her and lifted her up, smiling softly at her. She furrowed her brow and looked back to the ground. "What are you doing?"_

_ "Come with me, my friends and I will take care of you."_

_ "No. Let me die."_

_ "There's no reason for you to die, is there?" She closed her eyes and scoffed, who was this idiot that was carrying her off? "Don't you have family?"_

_ "No…they left me years ago. Everyone I ever cared about is gone." _

_ "Suicide is a hell of a way to go, I don't approve of it." The pills truly wouldn't be the death of her, hypothermia would. The pills were just to put her to sleep, the snow and ice would cover her forever. She crossed her arms, moaning softly._

_ "You don't even know me, so you shouldn't give a damn."_

_ "Oh? What is your name?" She rolled her eyes and shot him a glare._

_ "Hilda. Hilda Bodil."_

_ "Well I'm Oliver Oken. Now I know you and you know me, and I care, so now I'm not letting you take your life." She scoffed and twisted her lips into a smirk. She looked towards where he was walking and saw a hospital. She could hardly walk, she'd been in that snow for far too long. _

"Oliver…" Hilda slowly smiled and squinted her eyes happily into the sky. She could hardly be sad with him on her mind. She didn't want him to go through with his angry plan. It really wasn't even his plan at all, it was someone else's. It didn't matter, she was hoping to convince him to change his mind, and thought she was so very close. "If only you could realize…you have your family with you, everyone cares. Don't…don't take those lives because of what happened to your girlfriend…be happy with your family." She slowly moved her hand to the ice and started writing in the ice, hoping maybe to write for him not to do what it was he wanted to do.

Her body was turning so numb that she could barely even move her arm. Her legs were already beginning to freeze completely, and her lips were starting to turn blue. _"I love you…"_ He wasn't going to like this, not at all. She knew his anger better than anyone else, she knew his sadness more than the others. She let out one last exasperated sigh and let a crystallized tear shatter on the blood-ridden ice. She slowly closed her eyes, ready to pass as the voices of remaining scientists burst in her ears. At least, she could go out with people of her passion, but sadly, she wouldn't die with Oliver.

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Oh no, Hilda! The scientists found her, I wonder if they were on time. It's all speculation for now, but you've just seen the brief perspective of Hilda, and we're learning a few things are we not? Tell me what your thoughts are.


	18. Background Check

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

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Chapter 18 (Background Check)

The plane ride to Davenport's was extremely silent, nobody cheered and nobody spoke. Ciara was busy polishing her blade while Chase was anxiously watching from the window, waiting to get home. Jack couldn't quite get it out of his head what happened to Hilda, and Ciara was ashamed for reacting so quickly. Nobody could blame her, she was only protecting her team, and Hilda did fall forward onto her sword, which made matters even tenser. He couldn't let her blame herself for it, though.

Jack _was_ proud that they destroyed the machines creating the devices, and General Thompson would be waiting for them to return so Chase could tell him everything he knew. Eddie sat beside him and put his hand to his shoulder. "Hey man, I know it's rough…I'm sorry…" Jack smiled, half alive. He was still ready to throw up, but he had a strong stomach.

"That was my first time…seeing someone die right in front of my eyes, Eddie…" On part, that was the biggest reason everyone was so quiet. Everyone besides Ciara had their first experience seeing somebody _die_. Thankfully it was a shared experience, but painful nonetheless. "Eddie, I don't think I can forget that."

"I know…you know, I had time to recover, people died in the building I went in." All three buildings, scientists perished in the explosions. "I was prepared, and when I saw that woman go down…I still froze." Jack pushed his hands to his face, rubbing vigorously and sighing out in exasperation. He was trying to adjust, considering there would likely be more deaths than this. Such a harrowing experience, and he did _not _enjoy it.

"Just think Eddie. That isn't going to be the last. We're going to see a lot more, a lot worse…Ciara, she's used to this mess. She's been through it, so when she sees signs, she reacts…maybe she would have been right by striking Hilda down, but now we won't know." He shook away his thoughts and moved his hands behind his head, sighing heavily. "What do we do now, Eddie? Now that we've destroyed those machines…"

"There's still all the celebrities that have been hit by those devices." Eddie grabbed one from his pocket, he still had a glove on, so there was no need to worry. "Ciara and I collected a few of these for both Davenport and the General. Something they can use for reference, for study."

"Good thinking." How were they supposed to locate whatever it was that turned those things on? Chase already informed them that he wasn't the one that had it. The machine that turned everything was located in one of the head leader's many mansions. "About that machine that operates these…how do we go about looking for them?"

"I don't know, but do we stop searching for Rudy and our families in order to stop the Dragons' plan?" His heart dropped. He lowered his arms and leaned forward, staring hard at the floor.

"How do I know?" What was higher risk? "What would Rudy want us to do? Go after him or stop this plot?" Eddie grimaced and looked out to everyone else. They were all watching, listening. Jack closed his eyes and brushed his hair from his forehead. "Rudy is our teacher, he's better than all of us. He's got more training than all of us…_and_ he's got my grandfather with him most likely. If I'm right to judge, Rudy can take care of himself most likely. So…with that in mind…do we search for him, or do we search for this machine?"

"Maybe a little bit of both. Search for the machine and turn it off, but at he same time…we keep our eyes open for Rudy and our families. We'll find them, you just have to have faith." He nodded and moved his elbow to his knee, then rested his closed fist beneath his chin. _Faith?_ He had enough self doubt as it were, how was he supposed to have faith? He didn't want Rudy or the others to wind up dying and he couldn't do a damn thing about it.

"What if something happens to them?" Eddie's lips thinned as he turned his head away and shut his eyes. Jack stared at him with a growing curiosity, uncertain and waiting for his answer. "Seriously though Eddie…what if we're going through all of this, maybe we manage to stop that machine in time to save the celebrities and all, but what if Rudy and all are dead by then? At what cost…" Eddie clicked his tongue and returned his gaze, meeting Jack. Jack was thrown aback by the seriousness in his eyes, it was often a rarity to see the kid with such a serious look.

"Then we've saved millions of lives in the process. Rudy…Rudy would be proud of us, Jack. He would be proud of you." He could just imagine all the celebrities in horrible deaths, and Rudy questioning why they didn't save them.

"Yeah…you're right, Rudy would just be mad that we didn't save them. He would rather us save the innocents first, and save him later." Jack put his hands to his knees and slowly stood up. The others held their gazes and watched as he walked to the center and met their gazes. "Okay guys, we had a rough day, but it's time to walk it off. So to speak…we have a lot of work to do."

"We have to foil the Black Dragons!" Jerry exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air. Jack chuckled as he jumped up and put a hand to his shoulder, then grinned at everyone. "We can do this guys, we just have to focus."

"Thank you Jer…" Jerry grinned and Jack carefully pat his back. He ran his hand through his hair and inhaled. "Okay, we're in a bit of a muck, I know. Death is going to happen…probably a lot if things keep going the way it did today. "Our main objective right now, what Rudy would want us to do, is locate this strange machine that operates these devices. If there is a way to find an antidote, we'll get to work on it, but until then…we need to put an end to this machine, to this plot. It's time to focus, to give it our all. There's no time for upset, sure we need to relax here and there, but whatever happens…we cannot give up!"

"Not much need for the pep talk," Kim added with a subtle tone. "None of us are giving up, but you're right, we can't take too long to recover from what happened back there. If we do, then we may as well admit defeat. I know I'm not going to admit defeat."

"None of us will," Milton added. "Hell, I'm more than ready to see the General now. We have the information he needs to reach the President, and the other countries out there. So maybe now, we'll have help of the military. Hopefully they'll work fast and get rid of the bottom rungs of the Black Dragons."

"I agree." Jack looked over to Ciara and met her gaze, she didn't appear annoyed or agitated, only tired. "I don't know what you've been through exactly, I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot of it, but from this point on…I think it would be best _not_ to strike before asking questions." She flashed a small smile and nodded. "Thank you for trying to help, I know we're going to need that sharp senses of yours, and that sword really does do the job. I won't complain…" He moved his gaze over his shoulder, looking back at everyone else. The mournful look in Hilda's eyes haunted and shook him. "Something about that woman…I just wonder, she didn't really want all of this craziness. She just wanted to be happy." Was it crazy to think such a thing? "She looked…like she was in a lot of pain."

An eerie silence filled the plane once more, leaving them to their thoughts regarding the captain. Who was she? What was behind the pain in those eyes of hers? What was her history? Perhaps none of them would know.

"Hilda Bodil." An hour passed, and now the General was pacing the floor. His hands were behind his waist and his face was twisted in a serious expression. They'd run a background check on the woman, which they figured they probably should have done beforehand. Background checks on _all_ the captains would be in order here. "Thirty years old, scientist, she worked at _Weblung Labs_ around Switzerland at the age of fifteen, until she was twenty-one. The store was the target of a suicide bomber, and the owner was caught in the blast. She disappeared off the radar after that."

Jack began to pale as the others exchanged mournful glances. It was hard to believe such a tragedy could have occurred. She was just a few years younger than Rudy, it was distressing. "She started working at fifteen?" Milton asked, slowly asking the obvious. "What is known about her _before_ the blast?" General Thompson stopped moving and turned towards them in a huff. His eyes were full of a sorrow that chilled their bones. He closed his eyes and bowed his head.

"It's a tragic tale. Not much is known of her childhood, but reports from people who have known her state she was abandoned at the Swiss Alps at fourteen or fifteen years. She often claimed her family did not want her. She was the daughter of a married woman who had an affair with another man. That woman's name is Yvonne Bodil. We ran background check on the mother, and she currently resides in Italy with her husband, and two out of three children. Although, her children are grown and out of the house."

Jack closed his fists up and turned towards the others. He had an idea of what he wanted to do next, but he needed to know that they would go for it. It was more of a vote, rather than just his decision. "Guys, I think we should find this woman." The others were stunned by the suggestion, and even General Thompson looked a bit concerned. "Just to clarify, we should let this woman know what happened to her child, even if she didn't want her…besides, it's crucial investigation as well. If we find out more about who we're going up against, then the more we know, the more we know…the more control we have over what's happening. Am I correct?"

The old General placed a hand on his shoulder, causing him to jump with shock and look back. The man was giving him an approving smile. "I like your idea, I would have suggested the same. You know, when you are older, we may be seeing more of each other."

"R-Really?" His cheeks reddened at the thought of maybe joining the military one day. He'd love to, and from what the man said, he could possibly be recruited! He cleared his throat and looked back to the others. "I think background checks on all of the captains are in order. If they have family, we visit that family and find out more. When we find out more about their lives, find out more about who they are, we have more of an arsenal of power at our disposal."

Kim smiled with pride and quickly rose up, "Then we can be closer to turning off that machine, right?"

"Exactly." The basement door cracked open and his eyes flickered over. Chase and Mr. Davenport were coming out. Their reunion had been a tearful one, one that consisted of what felt like a ten minute hug, and many tears. "Mr. Davenport. Chase." He acknowledge them with a nod, this was where they were going to have to part. "We'll still be in touch."

"We're going to try to find ways to pull everyone back from their sleep," Chase reported, "But we're more than happy to help you guys in any way possible." He moved to Jack and leaned in, whispering. "Dad's forgiven me."

"I told you he would. Family always loves family…no matter what." He moved his hands behind his back, not realizing that he was taking a similar posture as the General. Thompson studied him with a proud smirk. "If my group agrees, our next stop is Italy, to visit this Yvonne woman." The others murmured their agreements, it seemed the best idea. "Also, can you guys assist the military with whatever they need help with?"

"Of course."

"I'm glad to hear that…" He closed his eyes and breathed in slow. "Okay team. Let's do this."

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Your thoughts on the background check and chapter?


	19. Broken Again

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

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Chapter 19 (Broken Again)

Impatiently, Oliver paced the floor. He hadn't heard anything from Hilda at all, she was supposed to be heading back to the mansion. She'd recharged Chase's bionic chip and had set the schedules of the scientists, so what was wrong? Why hadn't she called him? Last he talked to her, she said she would be leaving on the jet in a few hours and she'd call him when she left. Well, it had been a full day. He'd tried to contact her, but she wasn't picking up.

He stopped at a window and gazed at the landscape outside, the peaceful and empty fields were always the ones that pulled him back to earth. As his eyes scanned the fields, a fond, not so distant memory flashed before his mind. Just a little over a month ago, really.

_Oliver and Hilda had been rushing the grass together, chasing each other and laughing after having a picnic amongst the trees. The wind whisked her beautiful blonde hair behind her as she teased him from ahead. "You know you can't catch me. I'm more elusive than that!" She ducked behind a tree and Oliver moved up to the opposite side. He smirked and leaned to the right, she poked her head out from the left. "Over here, Oliver…" He turned to her and swayed over, circling the trees. She laughed and rushed off._

_ "Hey! No fair!" He took off. What began this chase was a simple debate over who could run the fastest and the farthest. She won the race they decided upon, so it turned into a chase. She was still outrunning him. "Get back here. Are you using some kind of scientific speed improvement?" She looked over her sweaty shoulders and laughed. She wasn't wearing the best outfit for this, a white t-shirt with barely any sleeves, and blue shorts with a stripe down the sides. Of course, the sweat stains were beginning to show through, and her hair was sticking to her skin. The sun was glinting off her body, and her eyes were enchanting him. He couldn't take his eyes off her for a second, of course he wasn't sure if he should be ashamed about that. She was beautiful, stunning, and intelligent. Dare he say he were falling for her, could he really do it? Could he really learn to love someone after all this time? _

_ "No speed improvements whatsoever, Oliver. You're just slow." She stuck her tongue out at him. He watched with a stroke of concern as her foot struck a tree root coming from the ground. He shouted for her to look out, but she was already falling. He started to lunge forward, but tripped and fell on top of her, catching himself by throwing his palms down beside her. She gazed up at him with arched eyebrows and a subtle smirk. "You just couldn't stay off me, huh?" Blood rushed to his cheeks, and a nervous smile curled at his lips. _

_ "I uh…I have no way of responding to that." She laughed and lifted her arms around his neck, catching him off guard. He struggled to tear his gaze from hers, but he was weak. She tilted her head, curious if something was wrong. "You're uh, you're very beautiful." _

_ "You're only saying that because I'm all hot and sweaty from that run." _

_ "No, I mean it." There was a tension in the air, so thick and heavy that a knife couldn't cut through it. The chemistry between them was undeniable, something that he could never understand. His chest ached and his abdominal muscles tightened as he felt himself lower just a hair. "There's something…I don't understand, a feeling." She raised her eyebrow and rolled her eyes, sighing in exasperation, but still smiling at him._

_ "A feeling? Can you elaborate? As a scientist I might be able to explain it to you."_

_ "I don't know, it's leaving me confused. I've not felt this way since…" His heart quivered and a wrinkle formed between his eyebrows. Her face softened and her arms slipped down, hanging by her hands behind his neck. "I haven't allowed myself to feel any kind of emotion, attraction is…"_

_ "It's not a bad thing. Do you think she would have wanted you to be unhappy for the rest of your life?" He turned his head to the right and thinned his lips. Of course Lilly would have wanted him to move along and be happy, as difficult as it was. "You have a family now, whether you see it or not. It's been twelve years, but…maybe you can let go?" He scoffed and turned his gaze back to hers. What he really wanted to do was to lean down and kiss her, but was it okay to do so? Was it the right thing to do? "You wouldn't be damaging her memory by letting yourself fall for…someone. Most likely, you'd be doing her a favor." _

_ "I don't know how to do any of that." She smiled at him and he felt a force pulling down as she gently reached up. Her lips connected with his, sparking at the connection. His surprised eyes fluttered shut and he gave in to the moment, letting go of his inhibitions. Maybe, just maybe, there was something more to this feeling inside, the knots and butterflies in his stomach, and the way his heart beat every time he saw Hilda. Maybe she was right, maybe it was okay to let himself fall in love again. _

None of the others knew what happened that day. One thing led to another, and it wasn't long before they had made love on the picnic blanket that they'd laid out that day. If anyone knew, Oliver wasn't sure how they'd take it. Perhaps tease the hell out of him, or perhaps they'd disapprove. Maybe they wouldn't care, he didn't know. All he knew, he enjoyed that memory, and he enjoyed all his time with her. Never would he question it, but he still had to assess his emotions from time to time.

His lips curled upwards and he slowly turned around, leaning back against the wall. He could feel her fingers caressing his body, her lips against his skin, and her sweet fragrance tantalizing his nostrils. He could live with this new memory. He'd given a lot of thought to Lilly, and he was beginning to believe it would be okay for him to move on.

The front door opened with a startling bang, and both Dylan and Ernesto hurried inside. He was concerned, what was going on? Their faces were distressed, panicked, and they looked as though they'd been trying to calm down from something. "Oliver man, we need to go," Dylan said with haste in his voice. "It's an emergency." They grabbed him and started dragging him towards the door.

"Where are we going?"

Ernesto looked back at him, frowning. "Argentina. I got a call late last night…" He furrowed his brow and followed them, trusting them. When he asked them what the rush was about, they delivered an earth shattering answer. "Hilda."

Hours later seemed an eternity, and when he had finally arrived at the hospital in Argentina, he was both shaken and numb. They were at one of the best Black Dragons clinics in the continent, and the closest one to Antarctica, as Hilda's base had been on the western tip just miles from the tip of South America.

He walked slowly with both Dylan and Ernesto standing behind him, their hands on his shoulders. To his right in the hallway, Rin and Fan were seated on a steel bench. Rin was bawling her eyes out and Fan was attempting to console her. Una was staring blankly at the door leading into Hilda's room. He wanted to be able to read what Una was thinking, feeling, but it was to no avail.

As the door opened up, Chogan and Matata slowly made their way out of the room. They gazed sadly towards Oliver, then walked over to the women. "You can go on in now," Chogan said beneath his breath, just loud enough for him to hear.

Oliver carefully made his way inside the room. His heart skidded to a halt as he stared ahead at the hospital bed where Hilda lay with many tubes connected to her, and a heart monitor slowly churning out various beats. He was told the scientists managed to reattach her metal arm and seal up the wound, they were able to sustain her during flight to Argentina, where Ernesto made arrangements with some of the best physicians that they had within the organization.

Hilda's life had been saved, but now she lay comatose, and no one could say when she would wake up.

He moved beside her and started to drop to his knees. His stomach twisted violently, throwing bile up his esophagus, which he was forced to swallow down. He gazed at her soft face and reached up, caressing her cheek. A tear left his eyes, and a scream of despair threatened to break loose. This couldn't happen to him again, it simply _couldn't_. "W-Why? Why was it you?" He brought his forehead down against her left hand and wept. Who had done this to her?

He felt someone's hand on his shoulder and slowly looked up, seeing Ernesto and Una beside him. Ernesto waited a day to tell him because he didn't know how Oliver would take the news. As for Una, she looked ready to tear someone apart. "Maybe she'll be okay," Ernesto said with a whisper-quiet voice. "They have her on feeding tube of course, so…that's good." Oliver slowly rose to his feet and started to thumb the tears from his eyes. His anger, his rage, he was attempting to keep it all inside, but it was too difficult. Ernesto met his eyes. "Oliver, there's something…the doctors found…"

"What? Tell me. What is it?" The man hesitated for a moment, only daring to say what was on his mind.

"She is a little over four weeks along. She's pregnant…" The words zapped all energy away from him and he nearly collapsed onto the floor. The shock was too much. _Pregnant_? Did he have to ask how? He started to tremble and slowly looked over to Una, who was staring at Hilda with wide eyes. He continued to turn his gaze over towards Hilda, whimpering fearfully. Ernesto closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "It'll be okay though, many comatose pregnancies can be saved. Through constant feeding tubes, nutrients can get sent to the baby, and-"

"Pregnant? Ernesto, I…"

"None of us know who the father is, but maybe if we find him…" He clenched his eyes shut and fell back into the chair next to the bed. There was only one possibility for the father, and he had no clue how to react.

"I'm the father." Ernesto's eyes lit up with shock, he tried to react, but was speechless. "Hilda and I…it was one time, and…oh god…" He leaned forward, rubbing his face. His entire body had grown numb, and his face was drenched with tears. "I should never have let her go. Never…" He was going to be sick. If he'd known she was pregnant, maybe things would be different. Maybe he could have talked to Chogan about foregoing certain things, letting him go to be with her. To be with their child. "Who…who the hell did this to her?"

"Oliver, did you-was there something between you two?" Now came the boiling rage. His blood was teeming with spite. He rose up, his heart was shattering like a jigsaw puzzle. He opened himself up, allowed himself to feel such emotions, and when that happened, he was shot down once more.

"Who did this to her?"

Ernesto pressed his lips together and folded his arms across. He closed his eyes and slowly breathed in. "The scientists said the machines distributing those devices were shut down-"

"I don't give a damn about those things. Those disks don't even matter to me! Who _did this to her?!"_

"Okay…they said it was a bunch of martial arts kids. Probably the same ones that were at Jackson's dojo…" Oliver's eyes widened and panic struck his heart. He _knew_ that state leader should have been punished for picking up the families of those kids, and now they were the reason Hilda was in a coma! He growled and narrowed his eyes, only two things came to mind. Getting rid of that state leader, then trying to get those kids off his tail.

He huffed and slowly closed his fists, trying to quell his heart before it became the death of him. "Ernesto…that leader that went against our word…I forgave him before, right?" Ernesto nodded and Oliver slowly looked to Hilda. He'd been a type of man who didn't like to go back on his word, but now his anger was beginning to cloud his judgment. "Find that man. Leon Bryant…and tear him…_limb from limb!" _

Maybe he could forgive the people who did this to Hilda, though. They didn't know, they were only trying to find their families. His chest continued to rise and fall as he carefully looked to Una. "Una, go out in the hall with Ernesto. I want to be alone with Hilda for a while…tell them this though…if anyone finds those kids, tell them we'll give them back their families if they just _back off_. We won't do anything to them, but they need to back off." Una and Ernesto nodded and rushed out of the room. Chogan might have a difficulty with that solution, so he'd have to try and convince the man, if possible. Though, more pressing matters troubled his heart. Oliver turned back to Hilda's side and knelt, taking her hand in his and gazing mournfully at her. "I…do love you…" His voice broke and the rain continued to fall across his face.

* * *

Hilda's alive, but comatose, pregnant as well, and Oliver's brokenhearted. What are your thoughts on this chapter? Did it make you tear up?


	20. Magic of Italy

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 20 (Magic of Italy)

Italy, a beautiful, wonderful place to visit, and Jack had only _dreamed_ of ever going. Now here he was in Rome, but for him it was business before pleasure. They had to find the address of Hilda's mother before they could stop to do anything else. "So let me get this straight, we're _not_ going to see the Coliseum?" Eddie complained as they walked through the streets. Jack was leading the pack, with Kim to his right and Jerry to his left, Eddie, and Milton were directly behind them. Phil was behind _them_, while Ciara supported the group from the back, keeping a firm grip in the handle of her blade. Eddie threw his hands up into the air, whining slightly. "Or even the leaning tower of _Pizza?!" _

"It's _Pisa_, Eddie," Milton retorted, scoffing at what appeared to be Eddie's blissful ignorance. Jack raised an eyebrowas Eddie rubbed his belly and hummed.

"Not to me, Milton. Not to me." Jerry chortled and Kim looked towards Jack with a laughing smile. He had to admit, it was not surprising to see Eddie was thinking about food at a time like this. They'd just eaten on the jet, and surprisingly, Phil decided against staying with the pilot this time. Typically Phil remained with the pilot and went off to do something fun, like bowling, or hanging out at a bar. Though, listening to Phil do karaoke practically burst everyone's ears.

"That's in Pisa, Italy," Phil marveled. He put his hands up and brought them inwards, tangling his fingers and sighing happily. "Ah such a beautiful land." Jack's eyebrows shot up and he glanced over his shoulder. Phil put his hands to his hips and quickly smacked Eddie upside the head. The boy quickly threw his hands to his head and yelled out a protest. "It's called the Tower of Pisa for a _reason_."

"Have you been here before?" Jerry inquired. "You seem awfully attached to Italy." Perhaps it was the reason Phil wanted to join them, to see the sights, though Jack was certain this wasn't where he was from. Hell, Ciara was acting less thrilled about Italy, and they knew she'd been there before. Phil breathed in deeply and let out a long, joyous sigh.

"Ah yes, back in my college days I was here. I met love here, and it was so beautiful." He smiled at the man and felt Kim wrap her gentle fingers around his. Jack turned his gaze to hers and gently squeezed her hand. "Italy, none finer than this town." Ciara huffed and shook her head, but said nothing. Phil glanced back at her, slumping his shoulders. "Does Italy not please you?"

"These days, not much does," she admitted. "One of my crew, when we were going around, they found love here too." She looked up towards the clouds and released her grip on her sword. "He'd shut himself off to that emotion so long ago, and the one time he let it open up, the person wound up betraying him. So he shut it up again." Jack brought his hand to his forehead and groaned as the group stopped before a small home. Surely Ciara had to have _some_ good memories from her worldly travels. "I'll admit, a lot of us did find some romance in this place. My husband, for example, that worked out. Italy does have a magic to it that can't really be explained in simple terms."

Kim squeezed Jack's hand once more and put her head to his shoulder. With a smile, he reached over and kissed the top of her head. "A magic place, huh?" Maybe here in Italy, they could find some time to stop and enjoy the sights. After all, he was already feeling some of that 'magic' Ciara and Phil seemed to be talking about.

He felt someone brushing against his arm and looked over to see Jerry exclaiming and pointing. "Look at her!" Jerry cried out. The others followed his gaze to a beautiful looking Italian girl standing in front of a produce cart. She had long brown hair, striking almond eyes, and a tempting smile. Before he could tell Jerry to focus on their business, the boy was already enchanted. "Y-You guys go without me, I'm going to…"

"Jerry?" It was too late, Jerry was already rushing to the girl. Jack smiled and shook his head. "We're not getting him back are we?"

"Nope, we're not," Ciara replied. "Phil, stay with him. Meet up with us in a few hours at the motel." Phil saluted her, and then hurried off. He was a bit skeptical about letting Phil off on his own, considering how entranced the man had become the moment they stepped foot in Italy. As if she read his mind, Ciara tore her eyes from Phil and looked over to the group. Her lips thinned as she rolled her eyes and sighed in defeat. "I'll stay back and make sure he knows not to run off."

"Good idea." He wasn't too worried about any of them running off, they all knew where to meet up at. They wanted to stay in Italy for a few days at least, but it would be a struggle not to get too lost in the country's seemingly irresistible pull.

When they finally arrived at Yvonne Bodil's home, it was only Jack and Kim that were left. Eddie just _had_ to stop for some Italian food, so Jack had Milton stay with him. "I can't believe everyone got sucked in already," Kim was understandably disappointed. "We all said business came first, right? I mean, wasn't that what you said?"

"Yeah, but it can't be helped, I suppose." It wasn't all bad. He got to be alone with Kim for a while, so there was some joy to be held. "It's just me and you for now, so what's so bad about that?"

"Nothing, but responsibility comes _first_."

"Agreed." He lifted up his hand and knocked on the door. It took a few minutes of waiting, and another knock, but eventually an older woman answered. She had silver hair draped around her shoulders, crows feet at the edges of her eyes, and deep frown lines. Her face was long and straight, having once been shaped like a heart. Her faded blue eyes peered at the two, and her eyebrows seemed thinner than her lips, if at all possible.

Jack was immediately frightened of this woman, but he swallowed his judgmental thoughts before they got the better of him. "Who are you? What do you want?" The woman's voice had a high pitched screech that irritated his eardrums. There was a large temptation to send Kim in and run off, but he wouldn't do that to her.

"We have some important, unfortunate news…it's um…it's about your daughter."

"Simone? Helga?" The woman started to open the door, narrowing her eyes and studying the two. She seemed suspicious of them. "They won't talk to me. They don't care about an old screwed up mother. Garth's just the same, won't acknowledge his own mother. What could they possibly have to do with me?" Jack slowly looked to Kim, she seemed pissed off, as was he. It was heartbreaking that out of these children she named, she couldn't even name Hilda.

"It's not about them. Your other daughter."

"Other daughter? I don't have-" The woman froze, her eyes widened in the shock of the moment. She started shaking her head and turning her eyes away. "I'm sorry, I can't help you." As she began to close the door, Kim growled and stopped the door with her hand, nearly having it slammed against the door frame. The woman's eye gazed out from inside as Kim started pushing the door.

"Hilda Bodil, she might be dead," Kim bluntly replied. A bit more blunt than Jack would have been. The woman gasped and froze, enough for Kim to throw open the door. "We've run a background check, so we know you abandoned her in the Swiss Alps when she was fourteen. I don't think I can understand _that_…so the least you can do for her, is talk to us about her, because the more we know…the better."

"I…" The woman started to tear up, sinking down to her knees. Kim's gaze was unforgiving, burning into the woman. She was not holding back any of her aggressions. Jack started to put his hand on her shoulder, but stopped, realizing he wouldn't be able to calm her down. "What do you mean…dead?"

"Take it easy," Jack whispered. Kim exhaled and pointed to the woman.

"She abandons her daughter, doesn't care enough about her after all these years, and you want me to _calm down_?" The woman slowly rose to her feet and walked over to a brown recliner right of a slightly dirty couch.

"No…No she's right." Jack and Kim looked over, astonished. The woman put her hand over her eyes, breathing heavily. She brought her arms down onto the chair's armrests and studied the two. "Who are you? You're too young looking to be police agents. Though in this day and age, I wouldn't be surprised…"

"We're not." Jack moved towards the woman, not really wanting to tell her of Hilda's involvement with the Black Dragons. He wasn't too sure how she would take it. The woman couldn't have been much older than her sixties, but she looked about twenty years older than that. "We…_knew_ your daughter."

"She's old enough to be your mother, you wouldn't happen to know her in-"

"No!" He threw his hands up with a nervous chuckle. Yvonne's face fell. She closed her eyes and smiled gently.

"It's true, I did abandon her. My children never let me live it down, but they never let the affair go either. She was my youngest, my last 'mistake'. I called her that frequently, and _that_ was my real mistake…I know that, after all these years…" She rose to her feet and motioned for them to follow. They walked with her up the steps, and followed her out onto a terrace overlooking the streets of Italy. On the wall right of the door leading out onto the balcony was a photo of a young girl with freckled and dimpled cheeks, and luxurious blonde hair. Yvonne smiled at the portrait and traced her finger around the girl's face. "You don't realize what you have until it's gone…we used to travel a lot, my children, husband and I. One place she always loved to come to was Rome. She loved this town and everything about it."

"That's why you're here?" He knew there had to be something there, a mother never truly hated their child. Kim folded her arms and leaned off to the right. Yvonne flattened her palm against the photo beside Hilda's head, then brought her forehead to the portrait. "I was twenty when I had Garth, my eldest child, but thirty when I had Hilda. Helga and Simone are twins, I gave birth to them when I was only twenty-three. They were all old enough to remember the affair, it happened on our trip to America. I spent many years depressed, distraught, and I treated her like the plague. I never appreciated her for what a smart, and sweet child she was…"

"So when you abandoned her…"

"We'd lost everything at that point." Yvonne turned and slowly walked to the black railing on the edge of the balcony. Jack's watched as the wind breezed the woman's silver hair back. It was like a portrait, an aging woman's sorrow at the loss of a daughter she'd not seen for years. It broke his heart, just as it would if it were a true portrait in a museum. "When we went to the Swiss Alps, my husband's company went bankrupt. We were broke, frustrated, and struggling to make ends meet. We left her…There is no excuse for something like that…a mother should never leave her child behind, she should never tell them such a lie that we told her."

"That you didn't love her?" Kim scolded. Her words were clearly scalding, as the woman cringed and put her arm around her stomach.

"I…I wanted to take it back, so badly. By the time I came to my senses, it was too late, she was no longer at those mountains. We looked and looked for her, stopping only when we realized she'd been at that science store…the one that exploded." Jack's eyes widened and Kim cupped her hand over her mouth. A tear drifted down the woman's wrinkled cheek. She moved her frail hands over her heart and closed her eyes. "I would give anything…to take it all back. Our family, we believe in bad luck, good luck. Ever since that day…we've just been riddled with bad luck."

"How so?"

"My husband, for instance…he's now stuck in his room, completely paralyzed. He only lives by bed rest. My son will not associate at all with us, only my daughters live in Italy, my son…I don't know where he has gone. My daughters as well are both barren, neither of them capable of giving me a grandchild. Maybe there's some magic in Italy, maybe being here…my family will eventually find their light again. Hilda. She was the magic in our lives, but we were too late to realize it…and they say that here is supposedly a magical place…but I've yet to see it."

Jack stepped back beside Kim and leaned in, whispering to her while keeping his eyes on the woman. Her back was turned to them, her head bowed, and her hands gripping tightly to the railing. "She knows she screwed up, Kim. How are we supposed to tell her that Hilda's been involved in some crime syndicate?"

Kim slowly closed up her hands and stared at the woman, full of sympathy. "We…don't…" His eyes widened and his jaw dropped. _Don't_ tell her? Then what were they supposed to say? She moved forward and cleared her throat. "Mrs. Bodil?" Yvonne turned her head to the right, gazing over her shoulder with a mournful glance. "Hilda's been working all this time as a scientist in Antarctica. She's had a decent life since those days, I guess…I don't know if she's alive or dead, to tell the truth. When we left, scientists were starting to surround her…she'd been stabbed during a fight." He slowly closed his eyes and pressed his lips tightly together. It was the truth, during takeoff they looked out at the ground to see scientists rushing around Hilda's body.

Yvonne gasped and quickly spun around, cupping her hands over her mouth. "You…You can't be serious? My baby girl?"

"It was Antarctica, she might have survived the wound. The cold air there would have slowed the bleeding. She was in charge of all those scientists, so I'm certain they would have saved her…We need to tell her birth father as well."

"I doubt that man would care. In fifteen years of her life, he never once bothered to talk to her…He was already married to a woman who was well in her own pregnancy at the time of our affair…"

"Still, out of respect…he needs to know." Kim's voice had suddenly become dark and dangerous, a trait Jack knew all too well. She didn't just want to pay a 'respect' or 'courtesy' to the man, she wanted to put the fear of god into him.

"I don't know where he is now, I haven't spoken to him in thirty years. Ken, Kenneth Truscott. Back then he lived in California. That's all I know of him." She was shutting down, a clear sign to Jack that she didn't want to go into that conversation any further. He felt for her, because after all, this was the man that threw their family into perhaps one of their roughest patches.

"We won't trouble you anymore," he sympathized, "Thank you…If we _do_ find anything else about Hilda, we'll let you know."

They heard the sound of a gun clicking into position and quickly looked to the doorway, stunned to see a long haired blonde standing in the doorway with a pistol pointed at Yvonne. Yvonne froze as the woman took one step forward, narrowing her deadly glare. "The name's Una, Hilda's best friend. She's in a coma…she wouldn't even _be_ in a coma or in any of this mess if it weren't for _you_ abandoning her. Now, you're going to die! Just like all the pathetic people out there that abuse and neglect their children, you're dead!"

* * *

Ah geez. So the investigative portion begins, and we find the mother of Hilda, but sadly Una Mave decides to show. Not pleasant. So what did you think of Yvonne? What are your thoughts on the woman's story? **  
**


	21. Blinded by Rage

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 21 (Blinded by Rage)

_Una Mave?_ Kim's heart thumped in her chest as she and Jack backed up against the wall. The woman didn't even seem to notice they were there, her focus was on the elder woman. "I'll handle this," Kim whispered to Jack. She knew they needed to make sure to hit when the moment was right, they had to separate that gun from Una. Not only that, but they needed to ensure she didn't kill Yvonne. As much as Kim wanted to take the woman out herself, it just wasn't right, and it wouldn't solve a thing.

To Kim, she understood what it was like to have pent up anger. She had been staying with an Aunt while her father went on his archeological dig. Her own mother had abandoned them long ago, and that was the reason she was so bitter towards Yvonne before. She knew how it felt to have your own mother reject you. Now when it came to Una, she could see this woman had a _lot_ of pent up aggression. Her eyes were full of tears, her face drenched, and her body tense. Had she gone through similar sufferings? Una's appearance there couldn't have anything to do with the Black Dragons. No. She was _blaming_ Yvonne for what happened to Hilda. She knew something.

"This is your fault!" Una screamed, echoing through the air. Yvonne gasped and looked up at the sky, breathing heavily at this point. "I've already taken care of Hilda's bastard stepfather…now it's your turn. You're going to get what's coming to you!" Yvonne put her hands over her mouth, holding back a scream. Kim raised an eyebrow and looked back into the house. Did Una kill Mr. Bodil? "I'm _sick_ of parents like you! Sick of people who think they can treat their kids like the fucking scum of the earth! _Sick!_"

That was enough, Kim couldn't let this go on any further. She reached out and put her hand onto Una's shoulder. "Listen, I don't know what you've gone through, but there's no reason for you to take it out on this woman." Una's head snapped into her direction and her eyes narrowed even more. With a sudden pull of her arm, she jabbed her elbow into Kim's chest.

"Mind your own damned business!" Kim staggered back and sucked in some air, winded by the blow. She felt Jack's hands on her arms. She shook her head once and twitched into her direction. Now, she'd gone beyond reason. Una was going _down_, and hard.

"You did _not_ just do that. Jack, take Yvonne inside. That's an _order_." She knew he would listen to her, she could be deadly when serious. Una started to look back at her, but before she could, Kim had already sprung into action. She put her back to Una's, reached over, grabbing her arm, and pulled it back over her shoulder. Una screamed out and fired a gunshot into the wall directly to the right of Jack.

Yvonne ran for the house and Jack followed her inside. In an instant, Kim flipped Una overhead. Adrenaline poured through her body and a tribal scream ripped from her throat. Una landed hard on the floor and looked up just as Kim started to leap onto her. She rolled to the side and Kim smashed her fist against the hard floor.

"You should learn to stay out of the way," Una stated. The woman quickly rose up and pointed her gun to Kim. Kim moved onto one knee, her fingertips kissed the ground and her eyes narrowed ferociously. "You couldn't possibly understand why I must do this. It's because of bitches like the one in there…poor excuses for mothers."

"You must have a lot of problems." She huffed and blew her hair from her face. In a catlike motion, she kicked forward, striking Una in the ankle. Una let out a scream and was sent falling into the ground beside her. "Think I don't get it? I get it just fine. My mother left us a year ago, and my dad surrounds himself in his archeology work. You don't see _me_ going around killing off someone else's parents."

"The hell you know little girl." Una grabbed one of Kim's pigtails and pulled her down against the ground. She quickly hopped up and dug her heel into Kim's shoulder, growling spitefully. Kim screamed as searing pain shot through her shoulder and into her collarbone. "You think you have it so bad. My parents were abusive, neglectful, and eventually they killed my brother…how could you tell me what I did was so bad? Killing them? The asshole, the bitch, they _ruined_ our _lives_. Just like the wench in that house!" She pointed her gun to the door and bellowed out a powerful scream. "Just like that wench, abandoning her daughter because Hilda was a 'mistake'. Fuck them, I say!" Kim rolled her eyes and started reaching up to Una's ankle.

"Get…off me!" She clamped her hand around Una's foot and jerked it back, sending Una into the ground once more. Thinking fast, she hopped up to her feet and put her hand over her right shoulder. The minute her hand touched the shoulder, it sent a cringing pain through her. "God that's tender." Instinctively, she began to shrug her shoulders and bounce on her toes, hoping to get the blood flowing and the adrenaline pumping. She watched Una rise up and dust herself off. "So you've got a pretty screwed up childhood. I can understand that. Still, it doesn't mean you need to go around killing people."

"Hilda was my best friend! My _best friend!_" Una ripped out a primal scream and kicked out to the side. Kim shot to the right, avoiding the kick, then delivered a round kick of her own. The kick connected with Una's side, just below the ribcage. Una screamed out in agony and jumped back, holding her right side and panting heavily. "Do you know…how it feels…to have your best friend put in a coma?"

"No I don't, but I do know how it feels thinking you might never see them again. Either way, Yvonne in there didn't put Hilda in a coma, so I wouldn't complain to her." She leaned on her right foot and brought her fists up level with her face. Her right shoulder blade was still painful, but she suspected it wouldn't be anything worse than a bruise.

"You're going to fight? I have a gun."

"Which you've yet to use…Not that I'm giving you the option…" She wanted to feel something for this woman, she truly did, but it was hard. Una seemed lost, completely blinded through her own personal aggressions, and the possible loss of her best friend. "I'm glad that Hilda's okay, we've been real torn up by that one. Care to explain her? Why's she with the Black Dragons?"

"It's not that she's with them…she was saved by them. Rescued, and we were her _family_. We loved her, cared about her, and…" Una shook her head and rushed forward, throwing a hard left hook. Kim deflected it with her right palm, pushing Una's wrist back. She then crouched down and slammed a fist into Una's sternum. The woman leapt back, gasping in for air.

"You really need to not do that." She swept her hand along her brow, sweat was pouring down her. The things Una was saying, they didn't make a whole lot of sense. How was Hilda _saved_ by the Black Dragons? "The Black Dragons are trying to kill millions of innocent lives, and you're telling me, they took the time to stop and save one woman?"

Una shot a glare towards her and rolled her eyes. "It was more than that. All of us were 'saved' at one point or another. I'm not going into personal details with someone like _you_, though. Besides, what are we to you?"

"Oh…I suppose I haven't told you yet…" She actually thought Una might have recognized her at this point, but clearly not. She lowered her voice and stepped forward, locking her feet against the ground. "I'm one of the fighters that derailed those machines that were spitting out those metal devices of yours." Una's eyes grew large and she began trembling.

"Y-You're a part of that group? The same group that put Hilda in that…that _coma!_" Kim flinched and she gave Una an apologetic look. It didn't seem to reach, as the woman let out a violent cry and charged for her.

Thinking fast, Kim performed a back-flip, dodging Una's hard right fist. When she landed on her fist, she began kicking to hopefully push the woman back some. First a right frontal kick, then a left roundhouse kick, followed by a right side kick. Each kick, Una moved back and threw a palm down to deflect.

Both women were locked in the midst of combat, ignoring the environment around them. Kim knew there was no more room for talking, she just needed to knock Una out, and hopefully they could get more out of her in regards to these dragons.

In the last instant, she saw Una snap the pistol in her direction. Her eyes widened and she quickly kicked Una's arm into the air. The woman screamed and started leaning back with the kick, having thrown the gun into the air. In the last minute, by sheer force of the kick, Kim realized her rival was falling _over_ the railing. Just as the woman fell over, she ran forward and reached down, coming within inches of her.

Her heart raced and she screamed out, watching in despair as Una's body crumpled on the ground below. The gun landed beside her, firing off a shot that appeared to graze her head. "No!" Her body went numb and a chill shot through her. She'd just _killed_ one of the captains. She didn't want to kill her! "You weren't supposed to die! You weren't supposed to fall! Damn it!"

She felt someone's arms around her and quickly turned to see Jack. He positioned his hands on her upper arms and looked into her eyes. His touch stabbed her right shoulder, so she gently reached up and moved it down. "Kim? Are you all right?"

"No Jack, I'm not…I just kicked Una over the edge." She didn't mean to be sarcastic or snarky, but that was how it came out. He appeared hurt only for an instant, then guided her slowly into the house.

"The Italian police are already here. They've been here…Mr. Bodil's gone, Kim. Una suffocated him…they found a pillow over his face." Kim winced and slowly brushed her hand through her hair.

Once in the living room, she saw Yvonne hunched over in her recliner, bawling into her hands. Ciara was in the doorway, having arrived moments before. She rushed over and took her from Jack, hugging her close. "She didn't have anyone," Kim said with a quiet voice. "Una killed her family years ago, she said that to me. She was abused by her parents, and they killed her brother. I think…I think that's why she was so angry here, wanted to take out the parents that abandoned her best friend. She had her own pain…"

"Hilda was really her best friend?" Ciara asked, skeptical, but interested. "You mean to tell me the captains were close?"

"She said they were all like family. Hilda was loved by all of them. We might be foiling their plan to take out all of those celebrities, but…something tells me we're pissing them off for something other than that."

"Is Una alive?"

"I don't…I don't know…" She moved past Ciara and Jack, slowly leaving the house. She walked around the side, stopping before Una's body. She wanted to turn away in sheer disgust, but instead, she fell to her knees and let a tear fall from her face.

Una was indeed crumpled on the ground, blood was pooling beneath her, and a trickle of blood had moved from the corner of the woman's lips. For some reason, she felt a kinship with this woman. Perhaps it was from the bad pasts they'd suffered at the hands of their mothers. Maybe Una was just a more extreme version of her own anger, her own rage. Hell, she'd even been involved in the Black Dragons at one point of time. If it hadn't been for Ty's selfishness against Jack, she'd _still_ be with them.

"I started taking martial arts…because I thought it would control all the anger and hate I had in my life." Jack's shadow fell on her from the corner of the building, but she didn't look over or pay him any mind. Her focus was still on Una's body. "Dad avoided the problems. There was a lot of fighting going on, and mom was violent to both of us. I started training in martial arts to get around that, to protect myself from her. One day she put her hands on me…and I fought back. I _hit_ my own _mother_."

She clenched her eyes shut and started to weep as her chest began aching. She never liked to be touched, she would attack anyone that dared to come near her when she was emotional, or if they threatened her. She'd been riddled with guilt when she struck her mother that day, punch her mom square in the jaw. Her father had already been pushed to the ground during a cuss-fight with the woman, so she only stood up to defend him.

"Mom slapped me hard against the face and I retaliated, I punched her." She threw her hand to her mouth and started imagining herself in Una's position. Fighting on blind anger and hate. "That day, mom left. For good…I blamed myself _so much_."

"It wasn't your fault…" She lifted her head at Jack's voice and slowly looked over as he knelt beside her. He put his arm around her shoulders and her defenses started to spike up. She relaxed herself and slowly leaned her head against his shoulder. "You were protecting yourself, Kim. You and your father…I'm sorry about your mom. You shouldn't blame yourself for that."

"Una…reminds me _so much_ of what I could have turned into. Then when I get upset, I worry about turning into my mother."

"That's just it. You didn't. You're not her, you're nothing like her, and you never will be. I would never allow it. Nor would I let you turn into your mom." She smiled as he playfully poked her nose. "You're beautiful, strong, resilient, and…I know you would never let yourself go insane like Una, or like your mom." She wiped he eyes and lifted her gaze into his.

"Don't you tell anyone what you heard though, I don't want any pity parties." He smiled graciously at her and gently kissed her forehead. His kiss warmed her and smoothed over her frayed nerves. She sighed and closed her eyes, letting her heart slow itself.

"It's between me and you. So, what do you say…we let the police clean up the mess here, and then we can go experience some of that 'Italian magic' everyone's been talking about? While we're here, maybe we can find that Coliseum, check out that tower of 'pizza' that Eddie's going on about." His subtle smirk and chipper tone warmed her heart. "Then maybe while we're still in Italy…we can go for one of those gondola rides along the rivers."

She opened her eyes and smiled peacefully, loving the idea of a romantic ride through the city. "Sure Jack, and thank you. I can't think of anyone I'd rather be going through this with…" She reached over and hugged him, letting him hug her as well.

Italy. _Truly_ a mysterious and magical place, Ciara and Phil were onto something. Yet, no matter how much love and romance filled the air of this country, she wouldn't soon forget Una Mave. She was exactly opposite of what Kim ever wanted to be.

* * *

Learned a lot here. We will see Kim's mother in a much later chapter, the woman _is_ the true OC, she doesn't belong in either the show or my novels and is only created for this story. Anyway, what did you think of the background info on Una? What did you think of the fight? Looks like Kim got her first true taste of killing the enemy as well.


	22. Knowing the Captains

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 22 (Understanding the Captains)

Jack was visited in his hotel room by a man in military fatigues, and handed a manila folder that was sent to him by the General. They were still in Italy, ready to fly off to California, where this Kenneth Truscott was said to be living. They'd spent a good week in Italy, recovering from the shock of having run into Una Mave. It was depressing to think that they came so close to uncertain death at the hands of one of the _captains_ of the Black Dragons, and didn't even realize it. Naturally, Yvonne and her family were put under safe care by the European military at the suggestion of General Thompson, but everything seemed that the Bodil family would remain safe.

Currently, Jack was only in a white t-shirt and black flannel pants with a red stripe along the sides. He was tired, just woke up, and was fixing to get into the shower. The officer that showed up at the door saluted him, then pointed to the folder in his hands. "That's the background check that General Thompson ordered on all of the captains. He's also suggesting a pardon granted to the captains if they leave the organization now." He chuckled nervously and peered down at the folder, uncertain why the General was _suggesting_ to him rather than ordering. Then again, his brain was only processing half of this stuff.

He rubbed an ache on his right ear and looked back at the clock, it was barely eight in the morning. "I'll look over it after I take a shower. Thank you." The man saluted once more and walked off. With a loud yawn, Jack tossed the folder onto the edge of the bed and started into the bathroom. He was very interested in getting into all the background information, but first, it was very crucial to him that he be allowed to wake up. He went to bed very late last night. Kim had some trouble sleeping and came over to watch some television with him, stating she didn't want to watch television alone, and Ciara was already asleep in her room.

The motel was different where they were, or at least Bobby wanted to try something different. He claimed it would be _cheaper_ to give them each separate, single bed rooms. So all _seven _of them had separate rooms. It wasn't working out too well, nor was it _cheaper_, so he was definitely going to tell Bobby to do something different. Perhaps two or three to a room, something Bobby had yet to do!

He didn't mind the privacy, and truly two to a room would be perfect if Ciara and Kim had a room. Milton and Jerry could room up, then Eddie and Phil. Jack eyed himself in the mirror and grabbed the red toothbrush from the sink, slowly bringing it to his teeth. _"Or whoever with Phil…I don't mind my own room…am I brushing without toothpaste? Seriously?" _He pulled the toothbrush down and eyed it carefully, groaning when he saw no toothpaste. In exasperation, he grabbed the toothpaste and quickly squirt some out onto the bristles. _"God I'm an idiot when I wake up."_

The only reason Kim hadn't been able to sleep the prior night, and some of the other nights, was due to what happened with Una. She'd been having nightmares about the whole thing, about her own mother as well. So they cuddled up on the bed and watched an Italian comedy. After it was over, they discussed the possibility of making a pit stop to see her father in Australia after they went to see this Truscott person. He agreed, as long as the others didn't mind. It wasn't hard to admit, this traveling was definitely making everybody just a little closer. Already he'd been learning more about his friends than he ever knew, including what happened with Kim's mother. Family meant more to everybody than he ever thought about, and this whole thing spawned because of Rudy's family, so it was indeed a tender subject.

He never knew Jerry's family had ties to some mafia, he never knew Eddie's mother had been killed in a car accident just weeks after giving birth to his little sister. It even surprised him to learn that Milton lived with an uncle that could care less, only because his mother and father had been lost at sea. His aunt had also been in the military, killed in action about five years ago. All of them were going through some rough times on this trip, and all of them desperately needed those momentary breaks to breathe. Of course, the one person that kept to herself rather well, not talking about her past at all, was Ciara.

He thought about his friends while getting ready for the shower. What were they going to go through when they read the background checks? What were they going to think about, and what would those files say about the captains? So far two of the captains had relatively difficult lies, and judging by what Una had told Kim, all of them had to have gone through some sort of hell before joining the Black Dragons. The question remained, what sort of hell had they gone through?

_"Almost afraid to find out…"_

He chuckled and quietly stepped into the hot shower. Whatever it was must have been serious if General Thompson were feeling sympathetic enough to offer pardons to them if they waived their involvement with the Black Dragons.

He called a meeting with everyone in his room at about noontime, after he'd taken another nap and met them for lunch later. He'd also had some time to go over the background checks, and what he found was almost terrifying, but in a strikingly depressing way. He needed to process, then go over the information with them, and now was as good a time as any.

Jack was leaning against the window of the room, his arms crossed, and eyes scanning. Everyone was scattered about, all watching and waiting. Beside him was the table, and the folder rested on top with all the files above it. "I found some very unsettling things about the captains. Every one of them seems to be a victim of something, for that matter. I know we all have been having some difficulties in regards to our own family, and even Una triggered some shit in regards to Kim, so I think it's fair to warn you…there's some stuff in here that might strike a chord in you guys."

There was some murmuring among the group, and finally Eddie called for him to continue on. He did so with a heavy heart, all the news was still fresh on his own mind, and it concerned him greatly. "We'll start with the captains we've already met, I suppose….we know enough about Hilda. Birthed from an affair between Yvonne and someone named Ken Truscott up in California…both married to separate people at the time, and Ken's wife was about seven or eight months pregnant when Yvonne conceived. That's why it's crucial we give him the news of Hilda _carefully_."

Milton raised up his hand and Jack acknowledged him with a nod. "Hey I've been curious. Since Una said Hilda was comatose…what does that mean? Obviously she's still alive, but…where is she?" He hadn't thought about that, but even still there wasn't a thing they could do about it. "If we ever find out, maybe we should tell Yvonne. The woman does seem to want to see her again."

"That's a good point. We'll do that if we ever figure that out." The others agreed, so he went ahead and moved on. He really didn't want to discuss much about Una, mainly out of concern for Kim, but he knew it was important. She understood as much. "Una Mave was born about thirty-four years ago to alcoholic parents. She had a little brother, about four years younger." He took a deep breath and picked up Una's file. Kim bowed her head for a moment, then looked up at him with a feigned smile. "Her brother was sadly beaten to death at the age of twelve when the parents came home drunk. Una returned to the grisly scene and grabbed her father's gun, killing both her mom and dad. After police investigation, she disappeared. She lived in Ireland and had no family to speak of, so when she vanished, nobody thought anything of it."

"So no one looked for her?" Kim sounded irritated, questioning why nobody would look for a teenage girl that goes missing after killing her parents off. "She takes out her mom and dad, runs off, and no one_ cares?"_ He frowned and watched as she crossed her arms and looked away, puffing angrily, trying to contain herself. "So she dies here in Italy, and nobody's ever going to know who she was. No one's ever going to give a second look at her."

Ciara reached over to her and rubbed her back, giving her a reassuring smile. "Someone's going to know her and someone's going to care. General Thompson's going to make sure regardless. They might not have found any family through the background check, but I'm sure he'll find someone."

"Hopefully…go on to the next, Jack…"

He nodded his head and picked up the file of Daiyu Fan. Usually Asian and Japanese names came with the last name first, so in this case, her name was Fan. "Fan, an early orphan dumped off in a Japanese orphanage as an early child. In China they had the one child policy, and being born female, her chances were even greater that she'd be killed by the Chinese militia. So her parents sent her to a Japanese orphanage, and she grew up tough and protective. A lot like Ciara is." Ciara rolled her eyes, earning her a smirk from Jack. "Not much is known about her birth parents, they didn't give the orphanage anything about their own lives."

"So another with no family?" Eddie inquired. "Hardly seems fair, but I can understand…why her involvement with the Black Dragons though?"

"That's the funny part. No one knows. Both she, and this other captain, Rin, are in their twenties. Rin is about twenty-three, Fan is about twenty-seven. They were never adopted by anyone, and about nine years ago after Fan was leaving the orphanage due to her age, Rin ran away from there. Both girls vanished from the radar then."

"You think that's when she was found by the Black Dragons?"

"It's a possibility, Eddie. Fourteen years old, she was just a kid. The orphanages told General Thompson that Fan was always protective of her, so I think Fan might have gone with her at that point." The current leader would have had to be the one in charge for at least twelve years, this gave them three years before meeting Rin and Fan. "If it was as much a family as Una claimed, I can see the attraction from Rin…"

"But I don't understand, why leave the orphanage?"

"This orphanage was shut down in recent years. The children that weren't adopted were…" He felt a pit forming in his stomach, unable to really speak about the horrid news he read. "Children that weren't adopted were usually sold, killed, or sent into the military if they were boys. When Fan hit eighteen, she might have been killed had Rin not run off…" Everyone was stunned, all equally shocked by the news. He bowed his head and exhaled slowly. "I don't understand it either…but that's really all General Thompson was able to find."

"So what was in Rin's past?" Jerry leaned back on the bed and put his hands behind his head. Jack looked to the girl's file and pulled his lips back into a flattened frown.

"The former owner of the orphanage told the General that when Rin was four, her mother left them after her father had affair with another woman. The father was then murdered by the husband of the woman he had the affair with. After that, the mother…well…she was never found and Rin was put in the orphanage a very shy and quiet girl. Apparently her only friend and protector was Fan."

"Ouch…"

"That doesn't even come close to summing it all up."

"I know, I just…" Eddie brushed his forehead and threw his hand down, groaning heavily. "I can't wrap my mind around why that girl would be involved in this. Either of them…maybe the family feeling, I get that, but…I don't know…"

"Yeah…anyway let's move on. Ernesto Vasco, he's twenty-five years old. He grew up in South America, somewhere in Argentina. He had many brothers, and a very sickly mom." Jerry's face fell, clearly he felt a kinship already to this man. Unsurprising, considering the large family that Jerry had. His mom had also been horribly ill once, to which Jerry would have done anything to help her. She eventually got better, but it was hard to watch the woman suffer. "They were poor, and the mom's health was failing. With his older brother, they went from shop to shop and took food, money, and supplies in order to try and pay for their mom's health."

Jerry waved his hand in the air and sat up, grunting as he moved forward. "Poor kid," he muttered, "I can understand that. A scrapper I suppose…"

"Yeah, but he had a sad fate. About eleven years ago, they took from someone that came back…and murdered his family." Jerry's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. He put his hand to his chest and Jack continued. "General Thompson's records say he was last spotted about three years after that, begging a store owner for scraps before being picked up by two men and two Asian girls. I'm going to assume that was the Black Dragons, since after that he was never spotted again."

"That shop owner…did he ever list descriptions?"

"Yes. He said he couldn't see the face of the man driving the car, but there was another man just a couple years younger wearing a cowboy hat and a jacket with a kangaroo on the back. The girls in the back didn't look much younger, though one of them was younger than the other. I'm going to assume this was the 'Double O' guy, along with Rin, Fan, and Dylan Patrick."

"The Australian guy?"

"Yeah…He went off the radar before either of the girls did, and they were the first to go off the radar about nine years ago." Dylan went off about eleven years ago, which was only one year after the disappearance of Hannah Montana. Ernesto vanished then and there just a mere eight years ago. Not much was known about Dylan other than he came from an Australian farm. "Dylan is twenty-seven years old. What is known about him is when he was about fourteen, Hannah Montana toured Australia with her 'socialite friends' Lola and Mike. What Jackson told me is those were just nicknames for her friends, Lilly and Oliver. Oliver became close friends with Dylan while on that tour."

"Oh yeah? That sounds cool. Did you find that in the files?" Milton leaned forward, intrigued. Jack actually _didn't _find it in the files. It was something Rudy had told him, one of Miley's last worldwide tours that she took about thirteen years ago. Oliver would often take off with a farmer's son named Dylan. While reading the files, he was able to put two and two together.

"Not exactly, it was a fond memory Rudy mentioned. It matched what I did find in the files General Thompson sent. Dylan was the son of a farmer and his wife. Unfortunately some time after this tour, he got lost in the outback when he and his father were going on a road trip."

"Oh god…" The Australian outback was a wide and dangerous landscape, to get lost in there was almost like sealing your fate. "The farmer was visited even by a man matching Oliver's description the next year, around the same time or before Hannah Montana's disappearance. He seemed disheartened when the father told him what happened, and went on his way…"

"What happened to the farmer after that?"

"They never saw Dylan again obviously. They assumed him dead and moved from the country. I believe General Thompson said they found the father living in Nebraska now, Dylan's mom passed away two years ago with a brain tumor."

"That's terrible!" Kim exclaimed. She smacked the bed once and stared into his eyes. "I wonder if Dylan's ever tried to look."

"He probably has, but at the same time, the reason his parents left…the farm burned down. Bodies _were_ found, but never identified." She put her hand over her mouth and the others all groaned. Yet another captain who might have felt abandoned by his own family, just perfect. Jack had to wonder how Dylan might react if he knew his father was alive. "I have a theory about who Double O might be, especially if Dylan was the first of the captains, but I'm not sure I'd be correct _at all_. There's nothing to back up my theory."

His theory was that Oliver was the one, having been close with Dylan before the whole mess. Maybe Oliver went searching for him in the outback and found him. Yet the inconsistency with the theory was simply that Oliver was _there_ when Hannah Montana was taken. Rudy _saw_ him go down. There was no way the ninjas would attack their own leader.

"Anyway, moving on…Matata Tapiwa, thirty-nine years old…He's a member of the Zulu Warriors in Africa. _Leader_, actually." This man was the one that scared Jack most of all. Matata was a determined, lethal fighter that had a lot of training with the Zulu warriors. Their common weapon might consist of a spear and shield, but they also had long machete like daggers, and also used a dart blow gun to spit poisonous darts at their enemies. "He's a very lethal combatant." He tried to simmer his fear, not wanting the others to know how he was feeling about this man. "No family to speak of." It needn't be mentioned that Zulu Warriors were famous for their tooth modifications, making each tooth appear sharp like their knives. "He's the African captain, and is a _very_ strong fighter. I would love to _avoid_ him if possible."

Phil practically fainted on spot, which was interesting, considering they hadn't had any reactions from him. "I know those Zulu Warriors, they invaded my village as an act of war!" Jack cringed as he imagined many Zulu warriors marching about a small village, setting it on fire and slashing through all of the inhabitants. "They're _scary_, Jack! Very scary!"

"Duly noted Phil…There's actually no instance of his disappearance, but is said to leave his soldiers from time to time. I think he remains in Africa for the most part."

"Oh goody, let's _never_ go to Africa then!"

"Unfortunately as much as I'd _like_ to stay away from him, we might have to run into him eventually. He looks to be the most dangerous of all the captains…" Definitely the most seasoned fighter, there was no doubt about that. Zulu Warriors also had a knack for insanity. There was nothing they wouldn't do, even going so far as to eat insects to remain alive.

"I'm sorry Jack, I won't distract anymore, please go on!"

"Right…" He chuckled nervously and picked up the final file. There was no background information on Double O, since it was only an alias. "Chogan Matchitchew, an Indian Chief of the native American Algonquin tribe…He's forty-eight, and perhaps also a very seasoned fighter. He's said to own a casino, but has remained relatively unknown as far as his whereabouts go. He's been jailed before for crimes committed twenty years ago, but most of his people believed in his innocence. In 2003, he lost his wife, son, and mother to a band of murderers." Another theory of Jack's was simply that Matata and Chogan were the two that kept pushing the evil plan, that they were the ones who were the most violent. The others just didn't seem as vicious from their background checks, especially not Dylan or Rin.

"It's all very odd," Milton stated. He looked over to see Milton hunched over, rubbing his chin, and staring down at the floor, deep in thought. "Dylan and Rin only seem like they'd want a family, not violence. Fan seems like she's only along to look after Rin. Ernesto _maybe_ he might have some anger and desire for the massacre being planned, but Matata and Chogan…they're the only ones that seem to be as likely a threat…" Or perhaps, those two were _the_ threat.

"I know, that's what General Thompson appears to think. He's said that Dylan and Rin, perhaps Fan as well, _could_ be granted a full pardon for their involvement. A sympathy…Also he said the same to Hilda when we updated him about her."

"Well, at least we know something about these captains, right? I mean, this was what we wanted. Information."

"Exactly." At least this way, he_ knew_ whether it would be right to take them out or at least try to reason with them. To convince them to leave the organization and put aside their plans, where at least they'd be granted a full pardon. "I really would like to find this Dylan guy and tell him his father's still alive."

"Agreed. So…what now?"

"Tomorrow we're off to California to talk to this Mr. Truscott. Maybe he can shed light on Hilda for us, maybe not, but at the very least…he _should_ know her situation."

Of course everyone had mixed feelings about going there. They didn't see why it was necessary when Ken was the one that just ignored Hilda from day one. It seemed like a hit and run with Yvonne, not at all her fault. Maybe this was a way to guilt him, knowing Hilda was in a coma, and Yvonne's family was doing so badly. Perhaps he'd feel the pain of never giving his daughter the time of day.

Surely, he would deserve that guilt.

* * *

Well guys, what did you think of the background checks? Surely _now_ you've _all_ noticed the name of Hilda's birth father. Can definitely attest that Lilly, Hilda, nor Oliver ever knew it. So, what surprised you about the background checks?


	23. Learning the Vital Information

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 23 (Learning the vital information)

The next day, June 29th, was filled with anticipation and anxiousness. The group had finally arrived in California. They were taken by the beach, and attracted to the beautiful beach house that Ken Truscott resided at. The strange part in regards to the home was how familiar looking it was to the home of the Stewart family years before. In fact, they were almost certain it was the same exact house. Why on earth would Mr. Truscott be living in the same home? Not to mention how close the beach was in conjunction to a Black Dragon dojo. The dojo was on the edge and named _Rico's Black Dragons._ They could see it all the way from the front porch.

"I wonder if that's the same Rico," Jack suggested. The others gave him odd looks and he lifted his shoulders. "Rudy told me about this kid named Rico, bright kid, but very sarcastic and an 'evil little demon'…" He did the same air quotes Rudy used, earning a laugh from the others. "Rico Suave…never knew what happened to him. He'd be about twenty-four now, Rudy says." He rubbed his chin and looked back at the door, only a few people really needed to be here for Mr. Truscott. Phil was once more, off with the pilot. "Ciara, would you, Jerry, and Kim go check out that dojo? See if he's the same Rico, and if he remembers anything about the Stewarts."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Ciara said with a subtle smirk. He gave her a stern look, warning her not to get too sword-happy. He didn't want a mess unless there was a drastic situation. "Relax, I'm not going to do anything. Though it's interesting, the military's already picked off a _lot_ of city dojos and state leaders for the Black Dragons. That dojo might be closed."

"If it is, it is. Just find out, please." She quickly nodded her head and took off with Kim and Jerry. Jack turned to the door and carefully rang the doorbell. While waiting, Milton and Eddie leaned on the porch walls, both staring out at the dojo. He glanced to the right and hummed as he watched the trio reach the doors. "Considering this man's the father of Hilda, do you think they'd put him in front of a city dojo to watch him?"

"Seems like they wouldn't know," Eddie suggested. "Didn't Yvonne say Hilda never knew the man? Never knew _of_ the man either?" Jack rubbed his chin and slowly folded his arms over. As much as he hated to admit it, they were right. Hilda wouldn't have known the man, so the Black Dragons wouldn't have known him either. "The affair was likely a really obscure and hidden one at that. Granted, he and his wife divorced like a couple years afterwards…"

Humming, he moved his gaze to Milton, who hopped off the side wall. "I'm eager to see what we'll find out here," Milton chimed. "I mean this man…what secrets lay beyond this door?" Probably more than they thought, considering this just had to be the same house that Rudy lived in so many years ago. "What do you think, Jack? Are you intrigued too?"

"A little bit." The door opened up and an aged man smiled down at them. He had short and thin grey hair, a sad face, and a humped back. He was wearing a blue sweater vest with long brown pants. Jack looked past him and breathed in at the interior of the house. The photos he'd been given by the General matched what he was seeing now, which was all too eerie. "Are you Ken Truscott?" The man flashed a tiny smile and nodded his head. "I'm sorry to bother you, I'm Jack, and these are my friends, Milton and Eddie. Do you mind if we come in?"

"Certainly…" The man's voice was weak and very hoarse. As he led the boys inside, Jack was hit with an overwhelming aura of depression. He looked around the living room and saw many photos of a young blonde haired girl with a vivid and bright smile. The man caught him staring and cleared his throat, still holding on to his smile. "That is my lovely daughter. She was taken from me twelve years ago…" He frowned and watched the man walk towards the kitchen counter. "Would you like some tea? I just made some…"

"No thanks. Your daughter was very beautiful." Ken's eyes lit up with joy as he began to pour himself some tea. The trio moved to the couch and sat, with Jack in the middle and Milton to the right. "What was her name, if you don't mind me asking?" Ken moved the cup of tea to his lips and began walking over.

"Lillian, though Lilly for short." His heart halted to a stop while his friends stared wide-eyed at the man. _Lilly Truscott_? Was this the same Lilly that knew the Stewarts? The more he thought about it, the more his heart began to race. If Lilly was Hilda's half sister, and they never met, was there any sort of connection? He didn't want to start thinking of the theories that were pounding his head, but he did have a gut feeling there might be something more to it. "She was murdered. April 13th, 2000. It was a mugging…her car had broken down…"

Interestingly enough, that two months to the day before the Stewart family abduction. The Stewarts vanished June 13th, and the 13th was also the day Rudy was taken away, and all this began. Jack was beginning to feel a pit of anxiety growing inside, still thinking on his theory. "Didn't she call you?"

"I was living an hour away at the time. She…didn't think very highly of me, son." Ken took another sip of his tea and moved to a recliner that was seated sideways. He turned it a little to face the boys, still giving off a pleasant smile, but his eyes were full of sorrow. "I tried. God knows I did, I loved my child…even if she hated me. She was going to see her best friend's performance, but got caught up…I guess her friend wouldn't help her…"

"Mr. Truscott, I am so sorry. I, we never knew." Ken lifted a hand and shook his head.

"No I'm sorry, I really shouldn't have unloaded like that. It's just…whenever I have visitors, they ask about her." His eyes began to water and his body trembled. "I lost my ex wife years ago. Depression took her when Lilly died. I have nothing anymore, no one…except I still see her fiancé from time to time." Jack raised an eyebrow and stared at the man, suspicious. From the sounds of it, this was the same Lilly. If that were the case, her fiancé was _Oliver Oken_, but he vanished with the others twelve years ago. Did he not?

"Oliver? I thought he disappeared with the Stewart family?" Ken's eyes flicked up to him and he quickly shook his head.

"Why no, of course not…I mean, I see him maybe once or twice a month at best. The visits have gone down in recent years, I think it may have been about a year now, but he's definitely not missing. In fact, this used to be where Lilly stayed, with her best friend."

"Really? Lilly lived here with the Stewarts?" _Why_? Why didn't she live with him? Was there that much bad blood? Did she know about his affair, which happened before her birth? Most likely, but Jack would only be able to guess.

"I lived over an hour away back then, she hated me, and wanted to be with Miley at the time. After she died and they went missing, I know it seems kind of gross, but…I wanted the memory. Here, it's like I can feel her spirit running through the halls, laughing…" Jack ignored the weird part of the thought and looked towards Eddie and Milton, he was gravely concerned at this point. He didn't really want to think Oliver would have done such a heinous thing, and certainly not to Rudy, but it was beginning to make sense. "Oliver even helped that boy on the beach learn karate and build a dojo. Rico looks after me, protects me. I'm an old man now, weaker, and I really don't have that many years ahead of me…I need someone who can look after me." Jack cringed and closed his eyes. He was fearful now, mostly for Rudy though. It would shatter his heart to think that Oliver would be capable of something like this.

"Understandable. Has…Has Oliver mentioned his family? Ever?"

"He's kept away from his parents for the most part, or at least his mother. The parents never got along and divorced, the father was always a good man." Ken sipped his tea once more and sighed peacefully. "After he was old enough, he took off without a look back. The last time I ever heard from him, he said he had a new family. A great, happy family that he _loved_." The man's cheekbones rose and his eyes seemed to dance. "You don't know how _great_ it was to see that man happy again. He said when he left, he met an old friend from Australia, and they started hanging together like they were brothers." Ken laughed once and leaned back in his recliner, kicking the footrest up into the air. "A few years passed and his family seemed to grow, he claimed a lot of them were people he met who had some rough backgrounds, they were helping each other out tremendously."

"Damn," Jack whispered. "That's great though, I mean…" He was beyond himself with worry. What were they doing here? They _had_ to stop Oliver's plan of what would soon be genocide, yes, but they had to be more careful. "Do you think he might have ever…found someone else?" Ken's lips fell and his shoulders rose.

"I don't know. About a month ago I _did_ get a call from him saying he was sorry that he hadn't been keeping in touch. He did say that there was a woman in his life that he thought he had feelings for, but wasn't sure what to do about it…" The elder cleared his throat and sat upright, gazing into Jack's eyes. "I advised him it would be all right to move on with his life and be with that woman, and if she made him happy, then that was important. He said something about a 'surrogate father' who had some sort of plan that he wasn't sure if he liked the idea of, so again I told him to follow his heart. I know he feels bad about losing Lilly, but I know as graceful as she was in life, I'm sure in spirit she's just the same. I think she would support him in this new relationship. But enough about my Lilly, and Oliver, I suspect you weren't here for her?"

"No…" He bowed his head and put his hands together between his legs. This was the difficult part, telling the man about his other daughter. "I'm sorry, Mr. Truscott. I know this is going to open up a really old wound, but…we know you had another child with a foreign woman." The man's eyes widened, then softened after a few seconds. His lips grew thinner and his teacup almost slipped from his grasp.

"I…see…"

"Do you think it's possible that Oliver knew this?"

"No, he would have said something. Why?" Jack slowly lifted his head and silently clapped his palms together a couple times. His chest ached from the pressure and his brain was calling him to run.

"Hilda Bodil is her name…she's a scientist in Antarctica, or _was_ one anyway."

"What do you mean? Is she okay? Is she alive?" A genuine concern was laced in the man's tone, which now seemed livelier than it had been in the past several minutes they'd been there. "Tell me, I must know! I beg of you…"

"I think she is alive, but she's been stabbed in the chest." The man put his hand over his heart and lurched forward, groaning in pain. Milton and Eddie shot up and over, putting their hands on the man's back, but he rose up, lifting his hand and signaling them that he would be fine. "She's in a coma, Mr. Truscott. We don't know where, all we know is what we learned from one of her closest friends. She was involved with the Black Dragons, and maybe…involved with Oliver as well. If we find anything out about her, we'll let you know, but I don't know what there is to find right now. I'm sorry…"

The man's shoulders slumped and he slowly looked to the ground. "If that is all, please leave…" The trio stared at him in silence, then slowly rose up. He understood Ken's pain in the moment, though he wanted to question it. Hope that Hilda was still alive would be something for him, because maybe to him, that was something to have left. Without a further word, Jack and the others started to leave the house. They were concerned about what was going on at the dojo, anyhow. They would be back here in the future though, most likely.

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Seems like a tough chapter, and it sounds like Hilda was truly changing Oliver's view on life, and it looks like Kenneth may be experiencing some regrets. What surprised you in this chapter? Now that we're done here, on to Rico...


	24. The Sword's True Value

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:To the one anonymous...no, not everyone is related...Moving on, this chapter involves a memory/flashback from Ciara, which means the memory you will see actually happened within my novel. Give or take one or two moments, the memory is written as it was in the novel. You will learn a few things about Ciara.

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Chapter 24 (The Sword's True Value)

The dojo had caught the group by surprise, Rico was well aware of their arrival, and about fifty people had been waiting in the chamber for them. They'd been backed into corners, Kim and Jerry were putting out the fight of their lives. Many ninjas had fallen still, and Rico was just watching in the center. He was casually rubbing his moustache and watching Ciara with a deadly gaze. His hair was slicked back and meshed together like the waves of a black sea.

Ciara breathed heavily as she was slammed up against the wall. She'd had her sword out at one point, but lost focus for just a second, and a ninja kicked it out of her hand. Currently the blade was in the wall just twenty feet away. _"I can't lose my sword."_ She began punching her way through, inching towards the blade. Her movements were much slower without her blade, her confidence was completely shot. She heard Rico chuckle from nearby.

"What is the matter? You rely on that blade? Tell me why." She snapped her glare towards him and clenched her fists. _Relied?_ No, it wasn't that she relied on that blade. That sword was her whole life, given to her by the sword instructor that her actual grandfather gave to her when she was young. She'd made the mistake of being without it before, and she swore never to make that same mistake again.

She wiped a trickle of blood from her mouth, clenched the hand, and slammed it back against one of the ninjas behind her. "That sword is everything to me. Family is the only thing more important." Rico glanced over at the blade and began tapping his finger, studying it.

"I wonder how much it's worth." Her eyes grew and she quickly ran for the blade, losing focus once more. Just as she did so, someone kicked her in the back, sending her screaming into the ground. Ciara extended her arm, moaning as she reached for the blade. The sword was now mere inches from her, or possibly an entire two feet. She clenched her teeth as sharp painful kicks were delivered into her sides, her hips, and her legs. "You're making quite a fight for that sword. Is there any financial value to it?"

Blood shot from her mouth, her body was steadily growing weaker by the second, but she continued to strain herself to reach that sword. "There's no price on that sword, but it's worth more than your life." Rico laughed and peered back at Kim and Jerry, both appeared at the point of exhaustion. Ciara pushed ahead, drinking her tears and blood.

"How can that be possible? I'm worth millions! That gaudy blade? It's probably worth less than you'd be in the auctions overseas." His words stung her, her eyes froze and grew with sorrow as the flashbacks were sure to come. Suddenly a sharp blow struck her chest, flipping her over to her back. Her gaze shifted to the ceiling as the ninjas started to pin her to the ground, only adding to the pain.

_Seventeen__year old Ciara Wells used to be a cheerleader, but her spare time was filled with her grandfather piling strange lessons on her that she could never understand. He made her train with a martial arts instructor from the time she was a child, Dr. Wyatt. Then she took swordfighting lessons from a woman named Kendal Fries. That woman gave her a sword as a gift, telling her to always keep it at her side. _

_ Today was different, though not so different than most days. Her grandfather, General Jack Salazar, was out and about. It was dangerous to be since the prison breakouts that happened. An elusive criminal with a vengeance against the police chief managed to successfully break a few hundred criminals from prison that were now terrorizing the town. She was remaining relatively obscure, wanting nothing to do with this, but of course, her rival in school, the Chief's daughter, was helping to lead the force against these criminals._

_ What Ciara didn't know at the time was that daughter was her blood cousin. Her name wasn't Ciara either, she'd lived life up to this point not knowing the truth. Eventually she grabbed hints that her life was different, and her granddad wanted her to go into the military, where maybe one day she would discover her father, her mother, and her history. She did live with the man since she was three years old, and the only memory of her parents was of her father leaving her with the man._

_ "Now Gramps isn't even around anymore…" Ciara muttered beneath her breath as she threw a bath towel to the living room couch. She'd just taken a shower and was wearing loose-fitting clothes that she just threw on. Her sword was resting on the kitchen table, she had yet to begin valuing it to its true extent. Her gaze lifted to the door and her lips fell into a suspicious frown, the front door was wide open. "The hell?" Criminals could be in the house! "Shit!"_

_ Thinking fast, she turned for the kitchen, but was too late. Just as she did, a group of five men jumped her and pinned her down, holding her arms and legs. "Hey look boys, she just got out of the shower," one man with a greasy appearance and smoky breath. She hacked and stared up at him, struggling to pull herself from their grasp. "I wonder how much she's worth in those slave auctions overseas?" _

_ "Didn't our boss say we couldn't do this?" _

_ "Whatever…let's check her out." Ciara screamed as the men started tearing at her. She cussed them, ordering them to let her go, but the savages continued like vultures. She groaned and tried to flip herself over, hopefully she could crawl to her sword. With each movement, they pulled her back. With each scream, they struck her in the head. She knew there was a reason her instructor said to keep the sword with her, she _knew_ she should have listened when they said to always pay attention to her surroundings and never become distracted!_

_ "Get off me! Please!"_

_ "Listen to her beg," the main guy boasted. She looked up, gasping as he started to unzip himself. The others roared in vicious laughter, pressing down even harder on her arms. Before they could do much of anything more than rip off her shirt, they froze, and Ciara tensed her body just as her cousin's voice came to her ears. Serena? _

_ "Let her go!" Serena exclaimed, pointing at the men. They looked over with scoffs and sneers, but Ciara knew Serena well enough from watching. This girl was on the school's gymnastics team and she ran track, so she did know how to fight. "I'm sorry, you must not have heard me." Serena took a ferocious step forward and narrowed her deadly glare. "Let me repeat myself before I kick your asses." The girl flipped her long brown hair over her shoulder and clenched her fists in front of her face. "I said let…her…go." _

_ "And what are you going to do about it little girl?"_

_ "For one thing, this…" Serena jumped up and grabbed a pipe hanging from the ceiling. It was a makeshift hanger pipe that Granddad made for Ciara to practice her pull-ups, which she often took for granted. Ciara watched impressively as Serena lifted her legs, spun up and over the pipe, then came down to deliver a swift kick into the jaw of the man above her. _

_ The man fell back against the wall and put his hand to his face. "Son of a bitch!" Instantly, Serena jumped from the pipe, flying over Ciara, and landing her feet into the face of the man on Ciara's left arm. Her movements were swift like the wind, so much so that she was unable to watch the full fight. At some point of time, Serena grabbed the vase from the end table and bent over backwards, slamming it down onto the head of one of the men at Ciara's feet._

_ With enough to break from the restraint, Ciara ran for her sword and clutched it close against her body. The men were getting up and starting to overpower Serena, so acting on impulse, Ciara charged forward, screaming as her own tears flew behind her. The men, seeing her sword, cried out in terror and fled the room as she brandished it in the air. _

_ When she was sure they were gone, she took a deep breath and looked over to Serena, who was slicking her hair back and blowing some strands from her face. "I was coming to talk to you about Aaron," Serena started with a low voice. Aaron was Serena's best friend, and in the past, Ciara had a bit of competition over him with her, but those days were gone in her mind. "I heard screaming, so I came in, figured I had to do something…"_

_ "Thanks…and I'm not worried about Aaron. I won't mess with him anymore, I just…let me breathe." She wanted to recover from what just happened. Her body was trembling, her chest was throbbing, and her head pounding harder than she'd ever felt. "How's your mom? Your family?" _

_ "Oh good…she's still trying to talk some sense into her little sister, my Aunt Ruthie." Serena sat beside her on the couch. Ciara clutched the blade closer to her body, she was never letting this sword go as long as she lived. Never. Serena ran her hands through her hair and scoffed. "I don't know why I'm telling you this right now. Mom and Ruthie are fighting, figures they'd get back to talking after all these years…you know Uncle Ryan went missing years and years ago, mom's older brother. It's what made Aunt Ruthie come back, but she's just crazy. She's married now, has a kid, seven years old. Kimberly, I think, I haven't met her yet. Anyway, Mom and Ruthie fight a lot like how you and I usually do…"_

_ "Why is she always at ends with your mom?" _

_ "I don't know. I think she has some sort of mental problem, Mom's been trying to help her, but she refuses to listen. She attacks her husband, her daughter, and Mom _wants_ to take the girl from her. My older siblings are trying too, but Ruthie just won't let it happen, nor will she change. It's hell…"_

_ "Geez, I never knew…I'm sorry about that…"_

It wasn't for another year at least that Ciara would find out the truth in regards to who she really was. When Ginger Vlasta came down and murdered her grandfather in pursuit of her, that's when she was told that the woman was the leader of Paragon Global, and she was responsible for the disappearance of her parents. Her father was Ryan Wells, sister to Prairie's police chief, uncle to three girls and one boy. She learned her twin sister lived in France, and quickly went to see her, and that was where they decided to start heading into the military.

Ciara opened her eyes and continued reaching for her sword, shaking away her haunting memory. She despised that time of her life, the time before she knew who she was. She hated that she once treated her own cousin like a lesser person and not an equal, and in that moment when she was attacked, that was when she saw Serena was worth more than what she first appeared to be.

"Get off me," Ciara growled. She had to quit turning into a fearful chump whenever she lost her sword. Even if it was what gave her confidence, she needed to be more confident with or without it. She heard Rico laughing at her struggle, and growled vehemently at him. "Once I get off this floor…I'm going for you, asshole!"

"Good luck with-"

"Hey!" A shout echoed against the walls, and everyone turned to see Jack standing ready to fight. Behind him were Eddie and Milton. Kim and Jerry cheered and seemed instantly renewed with hope and energy. The enemies froze and Ciara watched, full of pride, as the three men charged into the room.

First was Eddie, bolting against the ninjas and flooring them all. Many started to surround him, beating him, but he would continually push them off. Milton kept striking several in the necks, knocking many unconscious. Kim and Jerry continued flooring their opponents, but the glamorous one was Jack.

He flipped over several ninjas, then kicked down onto their heads. What came next shocked them all, Jack was literally _running_ on top of their heads. He would strike one foot down, then jump with the other foot forward, landing on someone else's head. Eventually, he performed a frontal flip, landing directly in front of Ciara and the men that had her pinned, his back turned to them. Then he dared what no one was allowed to do, he grabbed her sword!

She was okay with this, _for now_. He kicked back with his foot, slamming one of the ninjas in the neck just below the jaw. Several backed off and Ciara instantly reached up, taking her blade from him and clutching it close for a quick second.

"Saw you guys needed some help," he said with a cool smirk. "Found out the leader is Oliver Oken, by the way, and he gave Rico this dojo. Among other things." She rose up, swinging her blade in an upward arc, smiling to herself as the sword sliced one ninja in half from.

"Thanks Jack. Handle these guys…I have mincemeat to make." He raised an eyebrow at her and she took off in full rage towards Rico. Rico eyed her with terror as she grabbed his neck, pinned him to the floor, and pulled her sword up to point it vertically against his chest. She glared into his eyes, ignoring the sounds of punches being thrown all around her. "Now before I carve your ass like a pumpkin, I want you to tell me what you know about Oliver. Where can we find him?"

"I don't know." Rico was sweating, and just from the look in his eyes, she knew he wouldn't dare lie when his life was hanging in the balance. She was not above striking him down right here and now. "I just lead a city dojo, I don't know anything." She scoffed and flipped her hair over her shoulder, narrowing her eyes.

"Figures…same shit Ty told us. You don't even know where he's at?"

"No, he has mansions all over the world. He doesn't even keep me informed." The man started whimpering, bringing his hands up defensively. "Y-You're not going to kill me, are you?"

She narrowed her eyes even more. Now that she had her sword back, she was brimming with confidence. Like a raging wildfire, nothing could tear her down. "No…I should kill you, but you don't know what you just did, so it's not your fault exactly. However, I _am_ going to leave you with something to remember me by. So if we ever meet again…you'll know _better_ than to think you can mock _me_. This sword is an extension of me, it's more valuable than even you."

Rico's eyes widened as she carefully slid the tip of her blade along his body, stopping just above his genitals. His trembling increased and he stammered out his words, unable to form a coherent sentence. "Y-You…wouldn't…" She was curious mostly about his name. After she suffered that attack, and long after she joined the military, she sought out the criminal that tried to assault her. She learned his name, but it was her sister that convinced her not to go after him.

"You wouldn't happen to be related to a Marco Suave, would you?"

"He's my brother, he died in some small town years ago…"

"Oh…I see…" Yes, she remembered the fight. In Prairie, a small Texas town where Serena managed to rally up the police forces from that city, and some neighboring towns, to take out the army of criminals that were running rampant in the streets. "So an older brother of yours, huh? Well congratulations, you get to suffer because of him. Maybe you can know…your brother does not rule _me_…"

"Wha-" He threw his head back and let out a terrifying scream as she stabbed the blade down through him and into the floor. Satisfied, she leapt up and cleaned her sword off on his shirt, then sheathed it. He whimpered and stared up at her, full of fear.

Kim and the others came up to her, all concerned for her. "What was that about?" Kim asked. Ciara lifted her shoulders and looked off to the door.

"Nothing. It was…nothing." She began walking, ignoring the grisly scene that surrounded her. "Call the ambulance for him. He'll need one. I'll meet you all at the hotel." They exchanged worried glances. She felt their eyes on her, questioning her as she walked away from the building. There was nothing they needed to know about her past. Now with a sense of closure for once, she could move on with her life.

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I almost feel bad for Rico, don't you? Almost. What did you think of the chapter? What surprised you?


	25. Family Matters

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

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Chapter 25 (Family Matters)

Walking along the beach, Jack was enjoying the soft sand between his toes, and the water rushing up to wash his feet. The air was warm and as pleasant as the rippling water. His hands were in the pockets of his jean shorts, and he was wearing a sandy brown shirt that he thought went well with the beach. The wind blew through his hair, providing a very pleasant chill to his cheeks.

He looked to his left as Eddie came up beside him, also wearing shorts and an orange t-shirt. Though, he was wearing sandals, unlike Jack. Apparently there were times where you couldn't trust bare feet on the beach without the risk of stepping on something. Milton and Jerry were also on the beach a little ways behind them, they were busy making some sort of sand castle. "Have you ever been out on a beach before, Jack?" If he had, he couldn't recall it. He'd love to share this experience with Kim, but she was hanging with Ciara today. After the whole bout with Rico, the two needed to talk in private. Family matters, it seemed.

"No, never have. You?" He saw his friend's expression fall for a moment. Eddie looked up to the sky and lifted his shoulders.

"Sometimes Dad would take us out to the beach, but it's been a couple years. Debbie loved it." Talking about his sister had to be a rough subject, so Jack didn't want to approach a tense subject without some amount of care. Debbie was turning ten this year. Eddie thumbed his nose and scoffed once. "You know, her birthday was the twenty-fifth." His eyes widened and he quickly turned to Eddie. The realization that Debbie was spending her birthday in captivity was unsettling, but what could they do about it really?

"You didn't say anything."

"What difference would it have made if I did? She's still a hostage, and I do hope she's okay." Jack smiled and pat Eddie's shoulder, he hoped to reassure him that his sister would be okay. While he didn't know if that was true, it was still a good idea to hope for it. "Even if I do come close to seeing her, or Dad, I'm still going to feel like I failed them both."

"Why?"

"Because I should have _been_ there for them, Jack." Eddie pulled away and crossed his arms. He turned and glared ferociously at the ocean. Jack's lips fell back into a frown and his forehead creased above his eyebrows. "I should have been protecting them. Isn't that what learning martial arts is supposed to do? Teach you self defense to protect yourself and everyone you care about?"

"Yes. Or that's part of it…They'll be okay, Eddie. You didn't know what was going to happen, so you couldn't control it. What you're doing now, what we're all doing right now, is fighting for them."

"We should be looking for them. I could care less about all these famous people…if something happened to them…" He could see the tears in his friend's eyes, Eddie was struggling just to keep them in. Eddie sniffled and closed his eyes. "If I lost them, I don't know what I would do. Dad, Debbie, they're…they're more important to me than _any_ of these people that could die…besides, the Black Dragons haven't even started anything yet!"

"I know Eddie. I know…" He heard someone shuffling around in the sand and looked back to see Milton and Jerry walking up. They were just as forlorn appearing as Eddie was. "It's hard to decide…no question about it, family is more important and crucial than anyone else, but we can't just ignore the millions of lives out there at stake."

"He's right," Jerry added. "I should know, Dad's all I got. Sure I have all these cousins and uncles, but when it all comes down to it…_here_ all I have is Dad. My cousins, mom's siblings, and some of Dad's siblings that aren't living off in Chicago, they'll visit from time to time. You saw them in that one tournament, but I know they're all safe. I check on them sometimes, none of them are nearly as important as my Papi…and he's more important than any of the celebrities out there that might die, but _they_ have families too. They have those same loved ones that count on and depend on them. It wouldn't be right to weigh and compare the importance of their lives and the importance of our own relatives…"

Eddie looked over to Jerry with a subtle smile, and Milton quickly agreed. "As much as I know my Uncle's never around, I would hate it if he were caught up in this mess." Milton folded his arms and turned his eyes towards the ground. "Uncle Tyler is an alcoholic by night that works a dead end job, always depressed because of Aunt Lola's death, but he's still family. Those celebrities are the same, some of them are pretty crappy, but they're still family to someone, and they can't be ignored…"

"Chances are Rudy is with our relatives right now," Jack tapped his chin and started walking along the coast. The others followed after him. He was determined to save both, not putting anyone as more or less equal than the other. "He's probably taking care of them, making sure they're okay. He knows our relatives well enough and wouldn't let anything happen to them." As he thought on their families, he stopped moving and glanced over his shoulder at Milton. "I thought your father was still alive. Who was that weird guy that wanted to pull you from the dojo before I came along?"

"That was actually my uncle. He's a little…odd…" Milton rubbed his neck and averted his eyes. "He likes people thinking he's my dad, it's mostly all about him really…"

"I see." Then it meant all the more to him what Milton had said in regards to family, that no matter what, family was crucial. For those of them who still had their relatives safe somewhere, it would be devastating to lose them. Kim still wanted to see her father in Australia, and of course, she'd be tormented if something happened to him. He could see Milton the same way if he lost his uncle. "You're all pretty lucky still, you know that?" They stared at him as if he had a separate head. "You still have good ties with your family."

"Your family is perfect," Jerry laughed half-heartedly while Jack slowly shook his head. His family was far from perfect. Granted they weren't as tragic as some of the others, but all of his family members _were_ at the end of their ropes. "You still have both of your parents, and a full set of living grandparents. Hell, I think you all of your great grandparents are still alive!" He flinched and slowly closed his hands. This wasn't a topic he wanted to discuss, but everyone else was opening up. It would only be fair for him to do the same, wouldn't it?

"Not nearly, Jerry. Not even close." He turned to face the others. They were stiff and silent, and looking as though they just opened Pandora's Box. "First off you met my cousin once already, that should give you a hint of what my family's like…" He was doing his best to remain calm, but there was a bit of a snarky tone threatening to rise up. "Grandpa Vincent is the only one of my grandparents still alive, he's the one that trained me, trained my cousin, and trained Bobby Wasabi. I only have one set of _great-grandparents_ left alive, they're in their late nineties, and they were shoved into a nursing home because Mom and Dad were always fighting over taking care of them. They're already taking care of Grandpa Vincent, and he's not even the grandparent that is their children. His parents died long ago."

"Jack, I didn't-"

"It's fine." Grandpa Vincent was a baby born in a Nazi death camp in World War two, his father died in that camp, but both he and his mother were rescued. Growing up, he had to fight to be strong, and he trained his children the same way. His daughter, Jack's mother, actually _beat_ Bobby Wasabi in a few matches. "Did you know Mom would probably have been the famous one instead of Bobby? She was a strong fighter, but she gave up martial arts to start a family. She was really young when she had my older brother."

"You had a brother?" Milton stammered his question while the other two stared on shocked at Jack. He'd never told them anything about his life, about his family, and he really didn't want to. There was too much to say.

"Yes, and a little sister too…Nathan was born in '93, Mom was just nineteen at the time. Rachel was born in '99. Back in 2006 we went to this lake house where Dad took Nathan and Rachel on a boat ride…" He started to choke on his words as a painful memory started to return. His friends tried to say for him not to continue, realizing that he was struggling, but he strengthened himself. "Rachel hadn't learned to swim yet, and Nathan wasn't the best. Mom and I were still at the house…but their boat flipped over on all three of them…" That lake was extremely deep, and their father had forgotten lifejackets. He breathed in slowly and closed his eyes. "Nathan pulled my father out first, he was unconscious, then he went back under for Rachel…neither of them came back up."

"Oh my god…" Milton put his hands over his mouth as Eddie slowly turned away, clenching his eyes shut. Jerry reached over and put his hand on Jack's shoulder. "Jack, I'm so sorry."

"It's fine…" After that event, his parents fought constantly over every little thing. They fought over whether or not to take care of her father, they argued over taking care of Vincent yet the mom wouldn't take care of his dad's grandparents. They argued over whether or not it was the father's fault what happened to their children. Jack pressed his lips tight and looked out beyond the volleyball court behind them. Ciara and Kim were making their way onto the beach in the distance. "Mom and Dad are on the verge of filing for divorce…but they're both important to me. They all are…"

Why _couldn't_ they be a family? That's what he wondered. That appeared to be the issue with Oliver's parents as well. Oliver had a younger brother somewhere. The parents had often argued and were divorced long before the whole ordeal with the Stewart family abduction. They'd been told the dad had the custody of Oliver's brother, and at some point of time, father and son moved far away.

"I guess divorce should be something we'd be used to in this world. It sucks when people can't work together." He started to say something, but was cut off instantly when Ciara and Kim made it to the group.

"We need to go, _now,_" Ciara exclaimed, "We have to get to Prairie." Concern swept him away and everyone started to focus on her. "There's no time to waste. I just got a call from Aunt Mary, she said Serena and her siblings are trying to hold off this crazy guy that's attacking them. She has help, since she's a police officer, but they're _losing_ for god sake! We _need __to go!"_

"Okay, I got it!" They broke off into a run, not taking a second to ask questions. In a situation like this, it needed full attention.

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Everyone's got some crap going on, and in the next few chapters we'll be venturing into where my novel takes place, lots of stuff to learn from there. We'll be seeing Matata and the Zulu Warriors, bad yes, but not the worst thing to befallen Prairie. So, what did you think of all the stuff you learned in regards to the characters' families, including Jack's?


	26. Paralyzed by Fear

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N: Of course any OC you see in here _is_mine, especially all of Ciara's relatives you're about to see and hear about

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Chapter 26 (Paralyzed by Fear)

"Can't this pilot fly any faster?" Ciara muttered. Jack chuckled nervously as everyone surrounded her. He was excited to meet her family, while at the same time, a bit nervous in regards to actually meeting them. He didn't know what they were getting into, or who was attacking them. "Normally Serena can deal with these problems. I mean, Aunt Mary used to be the police chief before she retired last year. Everyone in my family is either in law enforcement or the military. So I know, if they are having so much trouble, then it has to be serious…"

"What do you think it is?"

"I'm not sure, but Nikki-my sister-said it looked like a bunch of those tribal followers of one of the leaders of Paragon." Ciara snapped her fingers and sat up in her seat. "Duna. Duna Gituku, he was a Chieftain in Africa, but was a part of Paragon Global. So the military had to work in there, we took him out." Jack hummed and looked towards the window. He was curious, was the theory correct? Could it be a group of warriors seeking revenge? "I thought the military took care of his followers though…"

"There could have been one or two left. Do you think your cousin and the police can hold this gang off long enough?"

"I know Serena, she can do it. She's an acrobat to add, so if her police weaponry doesn't help, she does know how to fight." He was happy to hear that, it gave him a bit of hope that they could reach Ciara's family in time. She _did_ say the police were losing. Ciara cleared her throat and bounced her sword atop her legs. "When Aunt Mary was appointed as chief, all of her children started getting into various fight training opportunities. My husband Aaron, his Aunt Sarah took up archery…she lost her ability to walk, so she often said she finds more time to work on her aim. Aaron's Aunt Rachel is a boxer, then you have his mom, the assistant chief."

"Your Aunt was the chief and her daughter married the Assistant Chief's son?" He chuckled at the thought, hopefully the two Chiefs were friendly. Then again, Ciara did seem to imply that the entire family as a whole were pretty close. "So who all is having trouble right now? Is everyone home, or are people away from home?"

"Away. Nikki is looking after her son and my daughter, both are a year old. My husband, Chance, and her husband, Chance's brother, are overseas right now. Aaron is also overseas." He started to ask who Aaron was, but Ciara was faster than he was, and informed them that Aaron was Serena's husband.

"I'm a little confused, if they all still live in Prairie, then who's the aunt Kim stays with?" Ciara raised an eyebrow and Kim laughed.

"I'm staying with my dad's sister, Jack."

"Oh, right…" He blushed and rubbed his neck. That answer seemed so obvious, but he'd only been mixed up in the confusion of everything he was hearing. Plus, it seemed not every relative was still there. Ciara also informed them that Serena's oldest sister, Cindy, and older brother Derek, were living in other parts of the country. Both had occupations in the military and had been transferred out. "So who all is in Prairie right now? Your Aunt Mary, and Serena, right?"

"Not just them…my parents are there too, along with my sister and our children. Serena has three children, all triplets born two years ago. Now, one reason she might not be doing so well...she's having a son, due September." Jack's eyes widened and his heart immediately began racing. He knew how desperate _that_ situation was, a pregnant woman would run a serious risk of losing her child. The further in the pregnancy, the more risk it was. Everyone else seemed to take note to that danger as well, to which Ciara chuckled vainly. "Yeah…that's why I want to rush over there. Megan, Aunt Mary's best friend, Aaron's mother, is there also. She's trying her best to fend off the attackers, from what I hear. They're all basically running them all around Prairie."

"Is that it?"

"No, Megan's two younger sisters…well Sarah actually, Rachel doesn't live in Prairie anymore either. Sarah's fighting them off too with a rifle. Last I heard, they had a group chasing them while they were in some pickup truck. So mind your tongue, don't start making any hick jokes…"

"Noted." He hadn't been thinking of any until the pickup statement. It seemed funny though, imagining a grown woman in a wheelchair shooting off a rifle in the back of a pickup truck being driven by her sister. "So what good are we going to do against these apparent savages that are destroying your hometown?" Ciara _did_ live in a small city, which explained why the police were having such difficulty. He wanted to get in and help any way he could.

"Going to find out who's in charge, then take him out."

It was easier said than done, for when they arrived on her family's farm where the bulk of the enemies were, his worst nightmare had been realized. The family, and several town police officers, were facing off a large group of Zulu Warriors! His heart was pounding with the beat of a drum as he watched his friends bravely force their way through the warriors.

The only reason they were able to get through was through individual relatives within Ciara's family. Kim hung with Ciara, Jerry and Eddie located Megan and Sarah, and began fighting alongside them. Milton was helping Ciara's cousin Cindy, and that left Jack with enough time to get around the horde distracted by the police officers.

As he made his way into the house, he heard a woman grunting and punches hitting against something. Several young toddlers were crying from a nursery, and pistol shots were sounding out. He followed the noise without hesitation, though in his mind he wanted to turn and run.

What Jack found in a bedroom beside the nursery were five Zulu warriors, one of which was Matata Tapiwa. On the bed was a woman in police uniform and long brown hair, Serena, holding a pistol at the warriors. She was panting heavily, her hair was stuck to her body, and her eyes were locked in anger. Two warriors had already been shot down, of course. Also on the bed, lying in between Serena's legs, was a much older woman, Mary. In front of the bed, brandishing a sword of her own and glaring at the warriors, Ciara's twin sister, Nikki.

"I'm sorry, but Ciara's not here," Nikki growled out. "I don't know what your problem with my family is, but you have three seconds to _get the fuck out_!" The girl lunged forward, slashing across one of the Zulu Warriors' shield multiple times before dancing around him and stabbing directly into the back of his head. Jack's eyes widened and he took a slight step back. Ciara had been right, her sister was far more vulgar than she was.

"What I want, is vengeance," Matata declared in a deep and dark tone. "Chief Duna was a strong leader of my tribe, and you people are the ones that killed him!"

"Oh? Well that's too fucking bad." Another one of the warriors was beginning to climb onto the bed. He grabbed Serena's ankle, and instantly, she snapped her pistol down and shot him in the neck.

"I'm running out of bullets here, Nikki. Could you _not_ agitate him? Please!" Matata growled and stretched his arms out. In his right hand was a long, curved dagger, and his left hand held a full body shield. At his waist was a blowgun and a rack of darts. Jack bravely rushed forward, clearing his throat, and kicking into Matata's back. "What the-who are you!" Serena shouted. Matata spun around and narrowed his glare onto Jack.

He chuckled nervously and slid his right foot backwards. "I'm Jack Lucas, and I'm here to help. One of the guys that Ciara's teamed up with." He studied both Serenity and Nikki, they were covered in blood. Some of it was their own, but all in all, they seemed to be doing rather well. "This guy here…he's one of the Black Dragons, I think."

Matata lifted his blade and started to slide it across his tongue, sending a chill down Jack's spine. "You made a bad choice, interfering with me, boy." The man sliced his blade in a downward arc, then charged for him. Jack let out a loud yelp and jumped to the side, knowing he didn't want to be sliced up. As he looked back, he saw Matata grabbing for the blowgun. He stiffened, then ducked just as Matata blew out the darts at him.

"So close!"

"Dodging isn't going to win you a victory! You need to fight me! Or…are you _afraid_?" He held back a whimper and kept from scoffing, he knew he wasn't ready to fight Matata. There was no way in _hell _he could go toe to toe with this guy! "Here I'll even the playing field for you…"

"Really?" He watched as the man threw his shield on the ground, but much to his disdain, Matata grabbed his second dagger from his boot. "How is that even? Come on!" Where was his bravado? He needed to be brave here, courageous, and usually he _was._

It was just the thought of this crazed giant coming up to him and slicing him into many bits and pieces that scared the crap out of him. He leapt off his back foot and kicked forward with his front. Matata laughed at him and slashed his knives outwards, scratching Jack's leg with the tips of his blade. Screaming from shock, he fell onto the ground and looked back with wide eyes. Matata pounded his chest and chuckled. "That was only a warning…" The man hovered over him and pointed the tips down vertically at Jack's back. "Like the fangs of a tiger, I will bite into you and not release."

"Come on, Kid!" Just as Matata was swinging down, Nikki kicked Jack out of the way and stabbed her blade forward, striking Matata in the right shoulder. Jack curled his arms over his face, then peered out, gasping lightly. The man dropped his knives and brought his left arm up, gripping Nikki's blade firmly in his hands. Nikki was leaning forward, her right leg extended out in front of her, and her body twisting sideways to where she was holding her sword with both hands. "_That_ was your warning, my next strike will kill you." She slashed her blade down his arm, causing him to scream out in pain.

"Bitch!" Matata jumped back and put his hand to his arm, panting heavily. Jack watched, still petrified. As many times as he'd psyched himself out over this man, he was surprised that he hadn't managed to paralyze himself to the point he'd be dead. He felt the man's glare on him and slowly stood up, preparing himself to fight. He wasn't going to let his fear get the better of him, no way, it was far too late for that. "You got lucky…" Matata reached down and grabbed his blades, then shot out of the room. Once free from danger, Jack exhaled and threw his arms down.

"Damn it, I froze up!" Nikki started to yell at him, but Serena silenced her.

"You did what you could," Serena admitted. "Thanks for helping out…where's Ciara?" He looked up and frowned. She was just being nice, surely. He should have been able to fight Matata! Needless to say, he didn't _want_ to fight the man. Not again.

"Outside."

"Okay, let's head out and try to help them then." She hopped off the bed and looked back to the woman lying there. The woman was now sitting up against the headboard, smiling kindly through her long, curled bangs. Her hair was a faded yellow, not completely grey or white yet. "Mom, are you going to be all right?"

"I'll be fine Serena. Check on the others."

"Right." The trio made their way outside to see Ciara and the others standing around among a line of bodies. Serena growled in irritation. All the remaining warriors must have retreated with Matata. "Going to be a long ass night cleaning this mess." As she and Nikki went to meet up with Ciara, Kim went over to Jack.

He was sitting against the stone border around the flower bed of the house, his hands were up to his face and his eyes were full of anger and shock. Kim sat beside him and put her hand up to his back. "I froze up, Kim. I froze up! I was scared…"

"Well, those were some fearsome fighters, so you're not alone."

"I shouldn't have froze though!" He smacked his knee. "I'm not supposed to be afraid. We've handled so many, it just doesn't make any sense that I'd be afraid of these people!"

"No. It makes perfect sense." He looked over to her, he wanted answers to this problem. "Jack, you're human, you're not always going to be able to stand up to the strongest. We've never done anything like this before…we've never faced an army like this, so we're not experienced like my cousins. Matata was intimidating, he's an intimidating person, so…naturally I think we would all have frozen up in front of him. Don't let it get the better of you, Jack. Just fight and keep pushing, that's really all you have to do. We'll all stand behind you no matter what, okay?"

She set her head on his shoulder and put her arms around him. He began to warm up, relaxing as she held onto him. He knew she was right, he just had to train harder. He had to get stronger and as he did, he would become more experienced. Eventually, he'd be able to take out guys like Matata. His friends had faith in him, so he just had to have faith in himself. They _could_ do this.

"We will get stronger…until we can be sure they're safe, maybe your cousins here should go somewhere else?"

"Maybe, but I don't think it would do a lot of good. They could still be found, and they're all dependant on their jobs really. Workaholics, I don't think they could possibly leave Prairie." He watched Ciara hugging each member of her family, then chuckled for them.

"You're right, they probably wouldn't. Although I have to admit…" She was so far away from them that she wouldn't hear. A smirk grew on his face and Kim gave him a suspicious look. "You're probably a redneck if you can ride the back of a pickup and fire off a rifle while sitting in a wheelchair." Kim smacked her forehead, but a smile was steadily growing. "Or better yet…a redneck family that fights together, _stays_ together. Am I right?" She started laughing, much to his pleasure. He was enjoying the moment so much that he'd forgotten about his earlier fear and began to join the laughter. Chances were, if Ciara heard the jokes, she would probably start whacking him with her sword. Now hopefully Kim wouldn't tell on him. If so, it was worth every precious second of laughter.

* * *

Yes, redneck jokes are poor in taste here, Jack. So what did you guys think? First time Jack's been so afraid he couldn't react, I think it's good to show that side of a character. What do you think of Ciara's family?


	27. Progress is a Climb

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N: By the way, we see that song _The Climb_ in here. For the record, I've never liked Hannah Montana, I'll admit. I've not been a fan of Miley Cyrus, but there _are_ a few of her songs that are actually good, and _The Climb _is one of them. It does fit well into the story, I can tell you that.

* * *

Chapter 27 (Progress is a Climb)

Rudy stood from the steel floor and checked his watch with a slight happy hum, having finished his morning sit-ups and push-ups. He'd been keeping the date in mental check, so he was well aware of the days. It was now seven in the morning on the 30th. Sure, he wasn't happy being stuck where he was, but he was happy that everyone there was allowing him to help them get back into shape. Improvements were already being seen, and this was _especially_ true with Miley. She was starting to get some mass back in her body, and her hair was surprisingly regaining some color.

They still had ample fruits, nuts, and berries. The checked on them every other day, just to make sure everyone was still _alive_. They didn't suspect anything, and oddly, didn't notice some of the prisoners actually getting their bodies back. Perhaps they couldn't tell the older prisoners with the recent hostages, his students' families. He was amazed by the tenacity of the families, especially by Grandpa Vincent and his daughter, Eileen. It was serendipity, truly, to see two people with an appreciation for martial arts. Of course, with as much as he'd heard of Vincent, he had to contain his excitement.

There were fifteen of them altogether, and the ones already in shape were going to remain in shape. He was closest to William, needless to say, everyone called him Will. Will impressed him with how caring and take-charge he was, especially when it came to Miley's welfare. It seemed like Miley had taken a liking to him over the years as well, so that was a big plus in her healing. She still didn't talk much, but she was beginning to open up more to everyone. She was a long way from that optimistic and youthful girl that used to dance around the house. Lowering his arm, he shook off a tear.

_"Daddy, guess what!" Miley exclaimed as she hurried down the stairs. She was wearing a red dress with a golden flower and stem embroidery on the sides, and a diamond shaped hole in her upper chest just beneath the collar. She had sparkling white lace arm warmers, and her hair was up in a feathery bun. Robby looked up at her from his newspaper while Rudy remained on the couch, watching television._

_ "You're interruptin' my show," Rudy remarked, annoyed. _

_ "Oh hush Jackson," Robby smacked him with the newspaper and smiled at Miley. "You look beautiful darlin'." Rudy looked over his shoulder with a proud smile, Miley was going to a school dance, and she was wearing their mother's old dress. "Are you meeting up with Lilly and Oliver at the school?"_

_ "Yes. I can't believe mom's dress still fits!" She hopped and spun in place before hurrying over to the couch, laughing gaily. "It's beautiful." Robby rose up and hugged her, gently kissing the top of her head._

_ "It is. You're going to be the most beautiful one there, sweetheart. Just like your momma was. I'm proud of you. You have a good time tonight, and if you need anything, just give us a call." _

_ "Thanks daddy." _

_ Rudy rolled his eyes and looked back to the television. "Blah, blah, blah, so mushy!" Robby shook his head as Miley quickly exited the house. He was hit once more by the newspaper and quickly threw his hands up. "Hey! I'm just giving her a hard time, she's my sister you know." _

_ "Yeah well. You never know when you're going to have to be the one looking out for her. So just watch yourself, son." _

"I know, Dad," Rudy whispered. His heart tightened in his chest and his stomach started to knot up. Two and a half weeks and he _still_ felt sick whenever he thought about his father being gone. The first day, no one knew it, but he'd practically been curled up in a ball and constantly puking into the toilet. Fortunately the cells were small enough so he could reach it. They only contained a toilet, bathtub with a shower head, a single twin sized bed, and a sink. He kept the fruit basket beside the sink. He looked over to the toilet with a sense of longing, thinking he was about to throw up once more. He put his hand to his stomach and groaned, fighting down the feeling. He still needed to get out there, he was waking everyone up on the dot at seven in the morning. They needed him now, _Miley_ needed him now. "Guess I never thought…you'd be right, Dad…but she's my sister, I love her, she'll always be beautiful to me." He bowed his head and slowly breathed in. "I'll take care of her, and I know, I'll make you proud."

She had been beautiful that day, such a happy dance. It was weeks, months, before the family was taken. It was around then that Lilly started suspecting she was pregnant. The poor girl, it was never Miley's fault what happened to her.

Rudy sat on the bed and tapped his fingertips together, sighing heavily. The day Lilly found out about her pregnancy, she was ecstatic. It wasn't until _now_ that Rudy knew what happened the day Lilly died. She missed a crucial concert of Miley's, the next day was the tragedy. Miley was still angry at her, but might have gone to help, but Rudy was giving her a hard time about everything. He'd been annoying her with his eating, and just getting her frustrated to the point that when Lilly called her, she turned her down. That day, Lilly wanted to tell Miley about the pregnancy.

The reason she missed the initial concert was because of a doctor's appointment.

Rudy put it out of his mind and quickly left his cell. He saw the door to the recess area already open and smiled as he peered outside. Will was already up with Vincent, Mark and Eileen Lucas. Hector Martinez, Martin and Debbie Crews, Eddie's relatives, were already out and stretching. It was said that the body had an internal clock, and if you were to go to bed and wake up at the same time on a regular basis, the body would start to adjust itself to wake up at that time. Some others were also up and standing around, but Miley and a couple others were still sleeping inside their cells.

Since there were fifteen of them, and only ten cells, some people had to share rooms. It was difficult given the size of the cells, but guards _had _put in extra beds for prisoners. Some just slept outside on some nights. Thinking on the sleepers, he started going through each cell and knocking on the doors to wake them up. He heard some groaning at him, while others got up right away. When he reached Miley's room, he heard a gentle weeping. He slowly opened the door and saw her sitting hunched over her knees. His heart sank and he slowly walked in, sitting beside her.

"Miley? What's the matter?" She lifted her head gazed into his eyes. Her brown eyes were just as beautiful as they always had been, and it was good to see some life returning to them. He smiled at her and put his arm around her shoulders. "I'm here for you, Sis. You know that. What's wrong?"

"I…I can't do it, brother…" He raised an eyebrow as she slowly put her head to his shoulder. "Sometimes I wake up and I go to your door, I look through the windows and watch you doing the push-ups and the sit-ups. You do _so many_, and I…I want to be like you...I want to have that hope, to be strong like you, and then I try _so hard_ to do as many as you do. I fail, I can't do as many, I can only do like twenty or thirty at a time. It's so hard!"

He chuckled and slowly shook his head. Her determination was admirable, and it was progress. It was something that she hadn't had for so long. "Miley, you have to have patience. You have determination, and that's _great_, that's something you haven't had in years…" As for the push-ups and the sit-ups, he knew those would take time. Everything was going to take time and patience. He was able to do a little over one hundred push-ups and one hundred sit-ups, but that was all years of work.

Miley bowed her head and lifted her shoulders. "I have patience."

"Look at it like this. You said you can do up to thirty, right?" She slowly nodded her head as he pat her arm. Her arm was no longer the size of a skeleton, but it was larger and firmer. Not quite normal size, but she _was_ developing her muscles. "We've been here, or I've been here for two weeks. So two weeks ago, almost everyone struggled, am I right?" Miley looked up to the door and chuckled softly.

"I...I thought it was funny. T-That first day, George tried to kick and wound up falling in a pile of mud. I didn't feel right for thinking it was funny, but everyone laughed. _He_ laughed." He remembered that memory fondly, along with the memory of everyone in two rows with him facing them, all trying desperately to do their first pushups. Of course, Eddie's dad and sister and Jack's family got through the pushups just fine, and Will managed to _almost_ make it to ten. The others, got maybe half a pushup done, then collapsed. It was like watching dominoes.

"Right, and everyone struggled. Granted the newcomers probably didn't struggle as much, but _everyone_ has their limits. It's a matter of how much you practice. That first day, nobody got through one pushup, and you couldn't even lift yourself off the ground. Forget jogging around the perimeter of that area outside, none of you could make it so far…now, all of you can jog that perimeter ten times, and ten times is the equivalent of a _mile_ of running. Now, you can almost do _thirty whole pushups_, and twenty sit-ups. Miley, progress is happening. You're getting _stronger_, all of you are, you just have to believe in yourself."

"I…haven't had anything to believe in for a long time." She started to smile. It was still a weak smile, but granted, it was _there_. Whether she knew it or not, to see her smiling again was the greatest joy, and knowing that he was helping her regain herself was truly his proudest moment. When she would take the lead among everyone and jog in front of them, then he would be truly proud. If she could actually, one day, manage to flip him, then his work would be complete. "Now that you mention it, I guess I am getting a little stronger, so…it's something…"

"You know something, Miley?"

"What?"

She put her hands between her legs and kept her head bowed, though glancing at him from the corner of her eyes. He put his hands behind his head and leaned back, resting his head against the wall. "I remember having a beautiful, wonderful sister who was always reaching for something. Whatever she wanted, she was _determined_ to get it, and she _would_. No matter what it was, no matter what it took, she would do it."

"She's long gone, Jackson." He hummed and leaned forward, studying her gaze with a subtle smirk. He reached up and tucked her hair back.

"Nope, I can see her. She's still there. Deep, deep inside…you can pull her out whenever you want to. I _know_ you can, Miley."

"Why do you feel so strongly about all that? I'm just…why do you have faith like that?"

"Because I'm your brother, and I love you. I know what my little sister's capable of, and I know it's going to take a long time, it's a struggle, but…you're going to be okay."

"What is there to hope for? We're never going to get out."

"No. We will. Even if I have to fight my way, there's a light…_someone_ out there has to be searching, and whenever we're found…because I _know_ we'll be rescued eventually…when that happens, you and I are going to stick together, and I know you'll make it." A thought struck him and he snapped his fingers, causing Miley to jump. She looked up at him. "You remember that song of yours? _The Climb_? I use it sometimes…a motivator."

"I don't sing anymore, Jackson." It was a fear, he knew it was. He wanted to hear her sing again, but that particular song. He knew it would be a long time before she sang for an audience again, and he believed she'd gone through too much to ever want to sing again, but he wanted to hear that particular song from her.

"I know, but. I want to hear you sing it again. Just me and you, because don't you see, that's what the song is all about. A struggle, just believing in yourself and continuing to push forward…if you have something to believe in, something to hope for, you will see progress. Take a look at me, take a look at the hostages that came with me, and maybe even Will…you can get that strong again. Hell, I bet one day, you could flip me! Flip me for every time I pissed you off when we were younger."

"Funny." She chuckled and slowly averted her eyes.

"Go ahead and sing that song. Even if it's just mentally, when you're thinking of a goal that you're trying to reach, Miley…when you're practicing and training, hum that tune. I know you can, and I believe in you. I believe in you even more than I believe in my own _students_…"

"Really? You believe in me that much?"

"I would never question it." She quickly looked up to him and took a long pause. After a minute, she turned her head down and closed her eyes. Tears began to drift down her cheeks and her lips started to move. Her voice cracked as she began stuttering out the words to a song long forgotten, but it was only like a person getting back on a bicycle after several years.

"I-I can almost see it…the dream…I'm dreaming." She whimpered and opened her eyes halfway. "There's a voice inside my head saying…you'll never reach it. Every step I'm taking, every move I make…feels lost with no direction." Rudy put his arm around her and started to join in, letting his deep voice mix with hers, hoping to give her inspiration.

"My faith is shaking but I got to keep trying, got to hold my head high!" She stared at him with wide eyes, waiting and watching as he looked back at her. Her smile started to increase. She flipped her hair over her shoulder and began to actually sing with him.

_There's always going to be another mountain  
I'm always going to want to make it move  
Always going to be an uphill battle,  
Sometimes you going to have to lose,  
Ain't about how fast I get there,  
Ain't about what?s waiting on the other side  
It's the climb  
_  
_The struggles I'm facing,  
The chances I'm taking  
Sometimes they knock me down but  
No I'm not breaking  
I may not know it  
But these are the moments that  
I'm going to remember most yeah  
Just got to keep going  
And I,  
I got to be strong  
Just keep pushing on, cause_

There's always going to be another mountain  
I'm always going to want to make it move  
Always going to be an uphill battle,  
Sometimes I'm going to have to lose,  
Ain't about how fast I get there,  
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side  
It's the climb

Keep on moving  
Keep climbing  
Keep the faith baby  
It's all about  
It's all about  
The climb  
Keep the faith  
Keep your faith

Rudy shed a proud tear and wiped it away as Miley stared ahead, astonished. "I-I can't believe I remember the words to that…I can't remember the words to half of my songs, but I remembered _that_ one?" He smiled at her and slowly stood up, shrugging his shoulders.

"Sometimes, we remember the most important things. That song is the most important song, it has a meaning that you should never, ever forget." He caught some of the prisoners outside the door, peeking in. When he looked at them, they quickly hid. "Miley. Don't put yourself down anymore, you can do it. Like you sang, it isn't about what's on the other side…we don't _know_ what's coming, but no matter what struggle we're facing…we just have to keep trying. I bet one day you'll outmuscle _me_. You know what? Work towards it. Something I tell my students every day, if you work towards a specific goal with determination, you'll reach it."

She began to stand, taking a much easier time than when he first saw her. She reached over and hugged his neck, her tears soaking his shirt. "Thanks Jackson…and I think…I think I will."

"Will what?"

A tiny smirk coiled onto her face, her eyes flickered with old life. She leaned back, still hanging onto his neck. "Beat you." He raised his eyebrows and laughed.

"Oh I would like to see that!"

"It'll happen."

"Okay then. _There's_ the Miley I know. Now come on, I think everyone's already done their morning stretches. Let's go out there and have another session."

"Okay." He started to lead her out into the hallway, full of pride. He could see her steadily singing that song really did boost her just a bit in that moment. Perhaps she shocked herself, but whatever the case, he was glad he got through to her. "You know, I've been practicing that formation you showed us! I think I'll get it eventually."

"I know you will, Miley. I know you will."

* * *

What did you think of Rudy's actions here. It seems as hard as it is, he's finally coming to accept that it's now his responsibility to take care of his little sister where his father is no longer alive. She's breaking out of her shell, slowly but surely. Yeah, she'll probably never sing again due to the tragedy, but at least she's coming out, right? I think this song fits her (And this story) so well


	28. Reason to Fight and hope

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 28 (Reason to Fight and Hope)

"Okay guys, take ten," Rudy said as he pointed out to the newer prisoners. Martin and Debbie, Hector, Julie, Vincent, Mark and Eileen all moved over towards the back tables. The rest lined up in front of Jackson. There were six of them, Miley was right in the middle in front of him. They stood straight and he began pacing. "Okay you just saw _those_ seven perform a series of pushups. Everyone has their levels, and yes, they're all stronger than you at this point. However, if you keep pushing, you _will_ get stronger. If anyone is doubting themselves…just look at your progress over the last two weeks! Now, I want you to show me that same progress, let me see where you're at on your pushups."

The ones that didn't do very well on the pushups out of the stronger group were Debbie, Julie, and Mark. Debbie was a little ten year old girl, frightened, but determined not to let her fear get the better of her. They even had a birthday celebration for her on the 25th, she was so happy she danced around the entire area! Being so small, she was able to get to twenty-eight pushups before her tiny arms gave out. It was still a good amount for a child. She really tried to emulate her father, so she kept trying. He was able to do about sixty pushups, which was good for him. He was a _bit_ overweight, bald, and had a thick moustache. The fact that he was able to do as much was indeed impressive.

Mark Lucas, Jack's father, was surprisingly not very strong. It was obvious which side of the family Jack got his strength from. Mark was a skinny man, much like Jerry's father Hector. He had a full head of hair, jowl lines, and deep brown eyes. He claimed he didn't work out often, and it was shown when he cracked out about fifty five pushups and gave in. Of the stronger group, he was the weakest, amongst the adults. Julie also was able to do fifty-five, but she was also on a different level like Debbie was. Eileen was able to crack out ninety pushups. She was a thin woman with a strong body, stern face, and brown curly hair that fell towards her shoulders. Regardless of her size, she was a very intimidating woman that most of the men were afraid of pissing off.

Her father, Vincent, was a strong elder man with a straight back, goatee, and full head of white wavy hair. He kept in shape obviously, managing about ninety pushups in one sitting. He was the envy of everyone there.

Hector was able to crank out seventy pushups. He looked a lot like his son, had the same type of hair and build, and had the same level of confidence. He knew with all of them, the others there had people to look up to.

Currently among the six prisoners standing before him, the strongest was Will. He was able to crack out forty-five pushups at this moment and had powerful lungs. The next was his friend Pete, a short guy with blonde hair and shaggy eyebrows. Pete's limit on the pushups were forty. Miley had built her determination up to twenty-eight, while the others could reach a full thirty. She had spirit though, so there was no giving up on her. Even on her twenty-eighth, she _fought_ to make the twenty-ninth.

"Now I know you're all tired, and I keep pushing you guys through the day…" They'd had their lunch break already, each taking some fruits. Nuts were required, and berries were always helpful. They took full advantage of that basket, and made sure to share the bigger fruits. They did their martial arts, sit-ups, and pushups earlier, and now they were going to do it _again_. "That is because I know you can do it. Your muscles should be building, your arms _burning_, but you can do it. Now show me what you got!"

They immediately fell to their hands and started the pushups. Rudy crossed his arms and began counting each, watching with pride as they kept going. "Come on, you got this…keep going…" Their days of crying were over, they were all getting used to this. As time went and they moved into the twenties, he began clapping each pushup off, pumping them up. He saw Miley's lips moving and knelt down beside her. His heart swelled when he realized she was humming her song. "You're almost there Miley. Twenty-six…Twenty-seven…Twenty-eight…" Could she do it? Could she break her own record?

The others began trembling and Miley paused. He watched a drop of sweat fall from her nose and land on the ground beneath her. She was breathing hard, she needed to either continue or give out. The longer she stayed raised in the air, the more painful it would be. The others began to give out, struggling on their final pushup. Will and Pete continued on and Miley closed her eyes. She continued to sing and slowly lowered herself.

"Come on…come on Miley…you can do this…" She slowly rose up, and his heart was rising rapidly into his chest. Once she got to the top, he clapped off another pushup. "Twenty-nine!"

"I'm not done yet."

This stunned everyone. They all started to get up and move around, watching in silence as she lowered herself and came back up, moving to thirty. She repeated the movement and Rudy felt suddenly like a balloon, swelling with pride and astonishment. Eventually she couldn't go any longer, but she'd made quite the breakthrough, hitting _thirty-six_ pushups! Everyone applauded her and Rudy helped her to her feet.

"I'm impressed! You did great, Miley." Her cheeks started to turn red and a smile came to her face. Before anyone could say a word, they all froze in a panic, a deep voice exploded over them.

"What the fuck is going on here!" They turned to see Matata glaring at them. He had a full bandage going down his arm and an angry glare burning into them. Behind him was Oliver, watching carefully. Unless he was mistaken, Rudy thought he saw a flicker of pride in Oliver's eyes. "I come to check on you all, and what is this I find you're doing? Working out?"

"There isn't anything wrong with that," Oliver said with a shrug. "They ought to be free to do that, otherwise they'd be bored all day."

"They could overpower the guards, Oliver! Do you not see that? They could escape!"

"Where would they go?" Matata roared in anger and ran forward, grabbing Miley by the back of her throat. Oliver's eyes widened and Rudy felt the rage pouring into him. Miley whimpered as Matata threw her back like a bag of bones. "Miley!"

"I will make sure you don't get any funny-"

"Shut _up_ asshole!" Rudy exclaimed, kicking Matata in the jaw. Oliver hurried over to Miley, slowly glaring at Matata. In an instant, Pete slammed Oliver's head with a shovel and dragged him off with Will. "Don't you _ever_ do that to my sister!"

The stronger fighters sprang to life and rushed to his side, all ready to fight. Of course, Julie kept Debbie out to the side, preventing her from getting involved in this. Matata sneered at them, scoffing wildly.

"Don't get so cocky. I'll kill each and every one of you." Rudy narrowed his eyes as Matata pulled one of his daggers out. It seemed he was unable to use his wounded arm, so that helped tremendously. "See, I was going to give you some hope. Let you know that those kids of yours are looking for you. They're getting _in the way_. We wanted to offer negotiation, but they killed Una and put Hilda in a coma. So clearly, I'm not in a good mood."

"Think I care what mood you're in? No one touches my sister!" The others surrounded Matata. He roared angrily and slashed at Rudy. Rudy jumped back and watched Eileen kick Matata from behind. The man spun around towards her, but Mark and Vincent punched him square in the back. The man slashed towards the side and everyone jumped backwards. His nostrils flared like a bull's and his eyes became darker, narrower.

"You're fucking with the wrong man. You're all pathetic!" Matata slammed his fist into Rudy, sending him back against the wall. Just as he looked up, Matata had jumped all the way on top of him. "You're first, asshole! I don't care if Oliver wants you alive!" His eyes widened and the man began to bring his blade down. In the last second, Rudy kicked up against his chest, throwing him off. Matata smashed into a table, splintering it in all directions. "Shit!"

"Nice try." He rose up and dusted himself off. Matata roared and ran for him, brandishing his dagger in the air. Thinking fast, he sidestepped and grabbed the man's wrist, pressing down into his palm with every ounce of strength he had. Matata screamed as his bones began to pop and crack.

"Fucker! Where the hell did you manage to keep your strength up!"

"That's _my_ secret." He released his arms to the side and performed a frontal kick, sending Matata towards the bolted door. As the over-muscled man landed, his excessive force burst the door open. Matata looked back with wide eyes, shocked to see it unlocked.

"What the fuck?"

"Mind your tongue. I've made this my dojo, and I don't tolerate that kind of language around here." Matata dashed for him and swung his arm low, slashing him in the side. He let out a grunt and his sister screamed in panic. "Just a flesh wound…" He reached over and put his hand on Matata's knife arm, growling as the man lifted his angry eyes up. "As my star student usually says…You _probably_ shouldn't have done that."

"Wha-" He was unleashing his full rage for everyone to see. He spun behind, yanking the man's arm. He heard the man's shoulder pop from his socket, then slammed his own elbow into Matata's arm, shattering his bone. Matata's scream echoed so loudly that birds could be seen flying away from the trees outside. He then slammed his hand in a chop form against Matata's back in several places along the spine, smashing it.

"I'm going to bring you down, asshole." Matata roared as he fell to his knees. The other fighters had rushed over, and Eileen kicked him hard in the side of the head. Vincent grabbed Matata's bandaged arm and tore it behind his back. Hector even punched down against his spine.

They started to back off from him and watched as he stumbled to his feet. Blood was pouring from his mouth, his arms were dangling at his sides, and his breathing had become heavy and labored. "You…assholes…are all…dead. Screw those fucking kids, I'm not letting any of you live!" Matata raised his hand up, letting out a violent war cry.

"You don't know when to give up do you? None of us were planning on escaping, but you need to do something about those anger issues of yours!" Rudy slammed his foot against Matata's chest, kicking him out the door and onto his back. As the man lifted his head, Rudy pulled the remote for the automatic guns. Matata froze on spot and started shaking his head. "Since you're likely to come back and try to kill us all…I'm not going to let that happen. I'm protecting my sisters, and I'm protecting everyone here. Good riddance! Eileen, Vincent, close the door!"

Matata began screaming as they started closing the door, his curses were heard, but only annoyed Rudy. He clicked his tongue and instantly pressed the button, turning on the guns. "You-you fuckers!" Matata was quickly drowned out by the sound of the guns firing into him, tearing apart his body.

"One crazy bastard…down…" The adrenaline left his body and he stumbled forward, putting his hand to his side. He winced and looked over as Miley quickly rushed to him, hugging his waist. It pained him to smile, but he managed. As his eyes drifted to the front door, he saw Oliver, very shocked and pale. The man came to and quickly turned around, shivering.

"There's…there are bandages in your room…use them…"

"Oliver."

"Don't…talk…" Oliver started to walk away. Rudy sensed a deep sorrow coming from the man and was curious, he wanted to know what he was thinking. Why did he seem to care about Miley when she'd been tossed like that? Maybe there was still a bit of his old self left, but maybe not. It was hard to tell.

After Oliver was gone, Miley broke down and began to weep over Rudy's wound. Will and Pete came rushing out with a large pack of gauze bandages and rolls of bandage tape. He chuckled nervously and began to take off his shirt. He heard one of the female prisoners whistle at him and looked over with a mild blush.

The woman was the attractive female in the group, his age, and she'd been there for a while. He didn't know what her purpose, or the purpose of the other prisoners was, but he hoped to find out. She had long red hair and deep blue eyes, and a body that just looked athletic. She was one of the stronger ones in regard to the older prisoners, and had been brought in just months before he was.

"That was good fighting," she marveled. Miley looked back at the girl and nodded appreciatively.

"My brother's strong, Amanda. Do you think he'll be okay?"

Amanda walked over to him and knelt down, studying the wound. "I'm a nurse, or at least I was one till they locked me up here. The wound isn't deep, so let's get it cleaned up and bandaged. He'll be just fine."

"So why are you here?"

"Father pissed off that guy…" She pointed to the back door where Matata's body was. Rudy's eyebrows rose and Amanda shook her head. "Took us prisoner and killed my dad…right now, let's just worry about getting your brother fixed up."

"Right…" Amanda and Miley walked Rudy back to his cell and started to rinse his wound with the water. He shuddered at the pain and looked down to see Amanda rubbing his wound clean with a white rag.

Within minutes, he was bandaged up and getting his rest. He was realizing how little he knew the others there. He'd been spending so much time with Miley that he'd neglected to get to know the others, so he set out to ensure he knew each and every one of them well.

He and Miley at least had a new hope, as did everyone else. Matata said Jack and the others were looking for him! Of course, there was still the deal with those disks killing all the celebrities. He wanted Jack to focus on those more, save the millions of lives first, then save him. Knowing Jack's determination, rescue was well on its way. Maybe they helped them by taking out Matata, maybe not, but hopefully now that he was out of the picture, rescue would come even sooner.

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What did you think of Rudy's fight with Matata, and the training everyone's going through? Looks like Oliver was shocked to see Matata go nuts like that.


	29. Chronicles of Prairie

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N: In this, it's _kind_ of what you'd call a 'filler' chapter, but more of a pulling back. You'll get to see the history of Prairie as told by one of my novel characters. So what you're seeing, what Jack is being told, is basically my original novel series all in one chapter. There's a reason: Ruthie Wells is _not_ one of my novel characters, but an original character. Ruthie Wells is said to be the mother of Kim. She may never appear in this story…

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Chapter 29 (Chronicles of Prairie)

Walking through the small town was interesting for Jack, he was on his own going through this town. The rest were getting tips and training from Ciara and her family. He'd had his training and just wanted some time to himself. There wasn't much to the town, but from what he saw, they were definitely rebuilding from prior trauma. Clearly Prairie had seen many troublesome days in its time, hopefully this attack would be the last.

When he stumbled upon the town's center park, he was impressed by the vastness of the vibrant grass. The park had a giant lake in the center, shaped almost like a figure eight, it was framed by the grass, and had a sidewalk all the way around it. He ventured onto the sidewalk and began walking around the border. It was a bright sunny day, and there was no reason to rally up his group to make them jump back into action. These people weren't just Ciara's family, but Kim's as well, and she hadn't ever truly met them before.

"So peaceful around here…you could hardly tell it's as war torn as Ciara said it was." He hummed and kicked some rocks along the sidewalk. The wind had a chill in the air, and the beauty of the birds singing was indeed music to his ears. The trees that surrounded the lake and littered the park gave him ample shade from the bright sun. Hell, he almost never wanted to leave this place! He'd had his day of running around the town, seeing the sights, and talking to the townsfolk. Everyone was friendly, buildings were old fashioned, and all the shops were full of customers. He chuckled and looked up to the trees, smiling as several birds started flying away. "Ciara must have been lying, this place couldn't be any less than perfect."

"If only that were true." He jerked back and turned around. An elderly woman with a kind smile and slightly wrinkled face waved at him and started walking ahead. Her hair was up in faded golden curls and her eyes were full of age and memories. "It's easy to be enticed by this town, that's what made my husband and I move here many years ago." He chuckled nervously and rubbed his neck. "I'm sorry to frighten you. You mentioned my granddaughter, I'm Pamela, Pam for short."

"Oh…I'm Jack, my friends and I are just visiting…" He took a deep breath and lowered his arm. She got his heart racing, considering he hadn't been expecting anyone to pop up. He _did_ get a bit of a eerie vibe, a feeling that the town did seem a little _too_ beautiful. "I was just thinking, it's a beautiful town, so it's hard to believe that it had a bad history." He followed the woman towards a blue bench near the lake. She sat down and smiled at the ducks in the lake and on the shore.

"Sometimes I come out here and think about my husband. He passed in '77. When he was alive, he loved coming out to the lake on his days off. Ryan was overseas back then, he'd just joined the Air Force and was stationed in Paris." He furrowed his brow and took a seat. As he watched the ducks, a false sense of peace and security came over him. He was on guard as he always was, not daring to relax. He knew he could, but he couldn't get past the unsettling feeling in his gut. "My grandchildren, Cindy and Derek, left Prairie with their families. I can understand. Serena says she has a good hold on this town, she's aiming to be a police chief one day, but I think she'll leave this place too."

"Why?"

"Because like everyone that lives in a small town…it feels like home, but it's filled with so much history, so many tragedies, and the people that live here can feel it. Not as much as visitors feel it, but it's all there, written in stone." So that was it, the eerie feeling he was feeling was just the history of the town? It didn't make a whole lot of sense, but yet, older cities and photos often left him with a strange feeling. "Serena is trying to get the other towns nearby to join Prairie with them, to make a much larger town."

"So, unity then…"

"Right, and the other mayors are all for it so far." Jack nodded his head and lifted his eyes to the beautiful blue sky. He wondered about the town's history. What exactly was this quiet town hiding? He felt something on his ankle and looked down to see a duck brushing against his leg. The duck looked up at him, meeting his eyes, and quacked. Jack only stared back, uncertain how to react. Pam laughed. "Don't worry, she's just saying hello. The ducks here are used to people and most often come searching for food."

"I uh…I don't have any bread right now." The duck quacked again and quickly turned away from him. He raised an eyebrow and lifted his head. Why did he feel like he'd just been rejected by a duck? "Sorry I ticked you off, geez. You know…do you mind if I ask you about the city's history?"

"I'd be glad to tell you." She turned her head the side and hummed to herself. "I haven't lived here all my life. John and I moved here in 1972. Mary was eleven, Ryan was just eighteen. The town has been here almost one hundred years at that time, it was founded back in 1890 by Ulysses Williams and his father. I suppose the _bad_ part of its history begins with Ulysses's granddaughter, Alice. She was born in 1940, but was murdered by her uncle in 1952." Jack felt his heart clench in his chest and he quickly glanced away. That girl would only have been twelve years old, how could someone murder their own niece?

"Was he ever caught?"

"Oh yes, but not until my family got here. You see, her death was an unsolved mystery, but eventually her older brother and best friend solved the case. We…moved into a house across from her uncle, and that man was a bit loopy, he tried to kill Mary, but Robert was able to stop his plan." That was good to hear. Robert must have been the elder brother. "You've met Megan, right? Mary's friend?"

"The Assistant Chief, yeah…"

"She is Robert Williams's daughter." Jack stifled a surprised laugh, not wanting to make her think he was laughing at her story. It was amazing to see the lineage of a town's founder.

"Wow! Not every day you get to meet one of the descendents of a town's founder."

"Small town." They laughed and Jake insisted she continue her story. He was more than interested to hear anything else about the town. The founder's granddaughter was the first 'victim' to this town's darker path, it seemed. "When my daughter was sixteen, she got interested in law enforcement. She'd been attacked by a very bad man, and wanted to join the police force to keep people like that man off the streets. Eventually she helped Robert, who was the current Chief, find and catch that man…only to realize he was a part of a bigger problem involving the town's corrupt mayor."

"The town's mayor was corrupt? He wasn't one of the founders, then?"

"Oh heavens no, he was a different man altogether. Though, he _is_ the reason my husband was murdered. My husband got too close to the truth…" Jack put his hand over his mouth and closed his eyes. An innocent bystander, why did criminals have to take innocents? People that didn't do anything, people that never deserved to die. It just wasn't right!

Pam moved her gaze to the right and exhaled slowly. Jack looked up to her and frowned. "I'm really sorry Miss…"

"As I said, this town has seen a lot of tragedy. Things were peaceful for a few years, until Serena was born. When Serena was born, two men, Roger Grant and Frank Casimir were after some of the police force. Roger died right out here in this park, drowned in that lake." Jack gasped and shot his gaze to the lake. He half expected a zombie to start rising up like Jason Voorhees! A murderer _died_ in that lake?

"Wow, when did…when did that happen?"

"Several years ago…Frank, however, managed to survive and stay in hiding. When Serena turned eighteen and started college, going into law enforcement, that's when Frank came back." Jack shifted his eyes and meshed his brow together in thought. Wasn't this around the time of those prison riots? The attack on Prairie's City Hall? "Mary was the Chief at the time, and many of our friends and family were involved on the force. Frank broke several criminals from our prisons, three hundred criminals ran rampant on the streets as a distraction for Frank's people to try and take out our members of City Hall."

"Serena helped the police force didn't she?"

"Yes, somewhat…"

"What about Ciara? Did she help at all?"

"Around then? Dear no…" She chuckled and his jaw dropped. Why didn't Ciara help? Why _wouldn't_ she help? It was her town too! Pam must have read his mind, she frowned and continued to explain. He listened instinctively, choosing to remain respectful. There wasn't much for him to say, he was just too shocked. "My son, I told you, was in Paris. He met a woman there, an old childhood friend, and the two fell in love…They had Ciara and Nikki, but at the same time, the anti military group, Paragon Global, threatened his family. They wanted to take him and his wife, use them as some sort of ransom for the military, then raise their children to be dangerous criminals."

"So what happened?" Why was he now acting like a child listening to a campfire story? He _knew_ what happened! Or at least, he thought he did. Pam chuckled softly and folded her arms over.

"Well you see, because the leader, Ginger, knew Ryan from childhood, she kept him alive. Couldn't bring herself to kill him or his wife." Jack raised an eyebrow and began tapping his chin. He had to wonder, Oliver had once been extremely close to Rudy and Miley, so could it have been possible that he would have kept Miley alive all these years? "Before Ryan was taken, he brought Ciara here to his birth father…"

"Ryan was adopted?"

"Yes, John adopted him before he and I ever married. He was seven years old. His wife Tina was a child at the adoption shelter, our friends took her in before moving to France. John's birth father, we found out, was a military man named Jack Salazar. A general at the time of Ciara's birth and good friends with General Thompson."

"Jack Salazar, huh?" He smirked to himself, full of pride. He didn't know why, but he enjoyed sharing his name with a general. "Are you sure Ciara won't mind you telling me this?"

Pam waved her hand in the air, laughing. "Oh she's stubborn, but she won't mind." Well at least he'd keep quiet about it. "Anyway, Ryan told Jack not to let her know who she was, for fear of Paragon's leaders going after her…so up until she was eighteen, her name was Delilah." Jack frowned and glanced away. She was the same age as Serena, so clearly the prison riots took place about the same time, so what happened there? "When Ryan was taken, that man, Frank Casimir…he looked into it and figured out what was going on. Now mind you, Mr. Casimir had a heart, he didn't believe in separating a child from it's parents, so he was plenty pissed with Paragon as well."

"Oh?"

"Yes, he kept watch over Ciara, apparently. She lived in blissful silence while her grandfather had her training in martial arts and training with swordfighting. She probably complained about it for the majority of her life, until the day came that her grandfather was murdered…" Jack's eyes grew large and he snapped his head towards the right, in the direction of the family farm. Pam breathed in and lowered her hands, tapping her fingertips on the bench. "Frank pulled her aside before she got home, he saw Ginger and her men arriving there…they found out where Ciara was, and they were still looking for her."

"So, Frank basically saved Ciara's life?"

"Yes, and he even took her to France. See, there was a period of time in Prairie after the battle with the criminals where Frank vanished. Ciara and Nikki joined the military, their husbands are older than they are, so they were already in the military. The military was already fighting to bring down Paragon, so they sent Ciara, Nikki, Chance, and Daniel in to rescue Ryan. Frank went along to help, swearing his hate for that organization. When they all returned…Frank fell back to his old ways. Serena never took kindly to her family being threatened, two battles happened on the same day…"

"What battles?" Pam lifted her hand and pointed to a broken tree beside the lake. She frowned and slowly lowered her arm. "Serenity fought Frank hand to hand. Being a boxer and athletic in school, she was a fair fighter. It was rough, but she brought him down. At the same time, Ciara and the others were on their way to the park when Ginger showed up outside her home, ready to kill her. Nikki almost died after that fight, Ciara was the last one still standing, but she won out in the end."

"Damn…" It was almost like Prairie was cursed with bad luck. Three hundred criminals as well seemed pretty hellish. The town might be small, but it wasn't all that tiny, so it made sense they'd have that many criminals, but all those criminals swamping the streets? Devastation was sure to follow, and from the sounds of it, it did. Many lives had to have been lost. "A unity with other towns _definitely_ sounds like a good idea."

"Right."

"Grandma, what are you doing?" Jack quickly looked over to see Serena staring at the two of them. Her arms were crossed and her foot was tapping impatiently on the ground. "Are you scaring him with the poorer points of the town?"

"Not at all dear…" Pam grinned and stood up as Serena rolled her eyes, smiling back at the woman.

"He doesn't need to know _all_ that. Besides, his group needs to start getting back on their own job. Ciara's getting a little impatient. Come on Jack." Jack quickly rose up and shook Pam's hand. The elder smiled kindly at him.

"It was good meeting you, Ms. Wells. Thank you for your story."

"You're welcome young man."

He moved quickly in step with Serena. She was a bit taller than he was, shockingly. At her height, her aerobatic skills must be good. "The town has had a lot of crime over the years, I'll admit to that. When you're a police officer, you find out a lot of stuff, but crime is everywhere. Even Grandma and Grandpa had issues, and that was _before_ they ever moved here."

"Oh?"

"Yep. Grandma had an abusive and controlling boyfriend. She loved Grandpa and he loved her, but that boyfriend of hers kept popping up even after the two broke up."

"What happened to _that_ guy?"

Serena's brow furrowed and she tilted her head towards the right. With a huff, she lifted her shoulders. "He ended up falling off a cliff. They say when you go back to that town at the same time, that cliff, you can still hear his angry scream descending to the bottom. Grandma and Grandpa married, then moved here." She lifted her hand up to her neck and slowly exhaled. "This town isn't really 'cursed' or anything, it's what you make of it. My brother and sister left because they thought it was gloomy and it brought back some harsh memories. I stay because I know what I can turn this town into. It's beautiful, you just have to look past the tragic past. Past the corrupt mayors, past the murder of the founder's granddaughter, and past the streak of never-ending crime…"

"I guess so. Ciara's sticking around too, right?"

"Well…no…" She frowned and stopped walking as they passed an old abandoned home. Jack followed her gaze to it felt his heart crack at the name on the mailbox. _'Salazar.'_ Ciara's old home, no doubt. "When she was eighteen, something happened to her…she won't go near this house, and has been saying she'd like to find another city to live."

"Mind if I ask what happened?"

Serena shook her head and continued walking. "It really is not my place to say. If she hasn't told you, it means she probably doesn't want you to know, and I'm going to respect that." Fair enough, there were some things that he didn't need to know. "Let's just get you back to your friends so you can continue on your way."

"Yeah, it'll be good to get back to our travels."

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So...I have to know...what did you think? ^_^. It's sad to say the novels will never be published, I think. Even Ciara's tale, I have about 14 chapters rewritten back in 2010, the rest is the original 2007 format (unevolved writing). I just don't have a lot of that confidence, hah. So tell me what you liked about all that history? Still got to love Grandma Pam (Though Ciara and Serena are my favorite characters to write)


	30. Brink of Frustration

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

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Chapter 30 (Brink of Frustration)

"Damn it!" Oliver screamed as he delivered multiple punches and kicks into the punching bag hanging from his basement ceiling. He was drenched with sweat, and flooding with anger. With each furious blow delivered to the bag, his adrenaline only seemed to spike higher. "Damn it, damn it, damn it!" He couldn't be angry with Rudy for having killed Matata, the man had basically gone crazy, but it _still hurt_. He was angry that Matata hurt Miley, however. All these years, and he still couldn't convince Chogan and Matata to release her. Una's death had stricken him hard with grief and turmoil, as he had no idea how to react to it. He was scared, scared for his friends.

He didn't want to push Dylan and Rin away, but he could see there was nothing good in their being involved with this mess. What had he gotten them into? Everyone was dying around him! He didn't want to lose them. He didn't want to lose anyone else. This included Ernesto and Fan, even Chogan was someone he would be depressed over losing. Maybe. He had to put a stop to Jack's group, but _how_? Oliver didn't want them dead, he didn't want all of this anymore. He wanted Hilda, and losing his family was driving him bat-shit crazy. This was almost worse than when Chogan told him his father and brother were dead, and he needed to take over the Black Dragons! On to Jack's group, he needed them to focus on something else, and he needed the captains to _not_ continue the way they'd been. For instance, Una's going after Hilda's parents was not _necessary_.

Oliver grabbed his towel off his shoulders and wiped his face. He'd forgotten his initial plan involving all the celebrities. It really was Chogan that wanted that, not him. Without Hilda or Chase, they couldn't make anymore of those devices, but he could still activate them. There were two volcanoes on islands just a few miles from land. In the middle of the Pacific Ocean was an island called Kiribati. Also known as 'Christmas Island'. It was south of the Hawaii islands, and the ocean bordered North America, South America, Asia, and Australia. In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean was another island with an active volcano. This island was surrounded by North America's east coast, South America's east side, Europe, and Africa. Sure, it might take weeks for every celebrity to walk, swim, and dive into the volcano locations, but eventually his task would be complete. There was no way to stop them anyway. Hilda didn't want it, neither did Rin, Fan, or Dylan. All they wanted was their family to be together, they wanted each other.

Groaning, he moved up his stairs. It didn't feel so much like revenge anymore. He wasn't even sure how good of an idea this was any longer, especially since the others felt the way they did, and rightly so, they didn't need to be associated with this plan. It wasn't fair to them.

There had been an opportunity to call it off, when he was certain that he'd still have Hilda and his family. Now, however, he wasn't even sure what to do. The group taking out his own _family_ was pissing him off. He sank into his living room couch and buried his face into his hands, rubbing slowly. "Just kill me now, Jesus. Kill me now…" Ever since witnessing Matata's death, he had a sharp pain in his sides and his chest. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Ernesto and Fan beside him.

"I don't think you should want to die, we'd miss you," Ernesto chimed. "I know it's been hard seeing Una and Matata pass on, and what happened to Hilda, but you can't let it get the best of you…" The hell he couldn't, it already _was _getting to him. They were still in Argentina of course, Oliver hadn't been able to bring himself to leave where Hilda was. He was afraid she would slip away, and he wanted to be right there if the worst came to happen.

"Hilda's going to be fine," Fan started. "Maybe you could use a break? You haven't seen your father or little brother in twelve years." He scoffed and brandished his hand in the air.

"They think I'm dead, Fan. Well my mother does, Chogan told me my father and brother were dead…that's why I'm in this organization, because I don't _have_ any family." He would love to see them again, if they were alive, but what would be the point? When he was younger, he rarely got to see them after they moved away. His mother often ignored him, so there was no sense in seeing her. "Mom would probably prefer I stay away." Hilda always told him how easy it could be for him to just pull away from this mess and start over with his life, but now, he was unable to see a good future. "Just like Una's family, and maybe even Matata's, if they were still alive, no one would give a shit about me being gone…"

"That is not true." Fan moved around to the other side of the couch and sat beside him, giving a faint smile. "All of us would care. Hilda would care, and I know she will be okay. I can feel it." He bowed his head and brought his fingers up to his eyes. "I wish you two would have told us that there was something between the two of you. Granted we all knew there was chemistry, if you told us that you two had actually had sex, all of us would probably have tried to pull you away from this whole revenge plot of yours." Oliver looked up to her and chuckled nervously. "So maybe it wasn't completely your idea, that's all the more _reason _to do that. Hilda and Una always were talking about you with each other, I think she was fond of you. I mean, all of us like you, but Hilda…she was different."

"Yeah. I could never understand why that was." She was special, that was the thing. She wasn't like anyone else he knew, she was different, unique. "One of a kind, she never let her past get the better of her." Fan chuckled and Ernesto agreed, she was one of the better people there. "I'm going to be honest…I think Rin and Dylan should leave the organization…"

"You think so? Why?"

"Look what's been happening. It's bad for them to be here…they have no reason for being here…" He wanted to them to live their life together, to go on and experience the world. He loved them to death and truly, they _were_ the very last people he wanted to see something terrible happen to. "Just like Hilda, they're innocent in all this."

Ernesto crossed his arms and chuckled, shaking his head at Oliver. "They would never leave you though." He ran his hand through his hair and leaned back with a heavy heart. Ernesto was right, Rin and Dylan were too close to him. He had to convince them to leave the organization, at this rate it would only end in tragedy. "Maybe if they had a reason to leave, they would, but what reason would they have?"

What reason indeed? Oliver narrowed his eyes and leaned forward, tapping his fingertips together before his face. "Well Dylan's father…we never found out where he was. We just assumed the bodies found at that ranch belonged to the man." Ernesto and Fan exchanged inspired looks while Oliver closed his eyes in deep thought. He always had a gut feeling that Dylan's dad might still be around, and of course he'd given up that search a while back, but it always remained in the back of his mind. "What if he's still alive? What if that old farmer's still out there somewhere? If he were alive, would it be reason enough to convince Dylan to leave? He'd be safer…"

"But you forget Rin," Fan added. "That girl loves him, and I do mean true love." There was no denying it, even Oliver could see those two had strong feelings for one another. It was yet another reason he wanted them to leave the organization and to go somewhere safer. "He would never leave her, and she would be torn if he left."

"You don't think she'd go with him?" Ernesto suggested, curling his finger onto his chin. "I would be willing to believe she'd follow after him. Then what about you, Fan? You're only here because of her." Fan straightened her back and closed her eyes.

"I came here because of her, I protected her, but she's a big girl now. She doesn't need me watching over her like a hawk." The men watched her smile and waited for her to continue. "Besides, if she were safer, and with Dylan, I'd be fine with that…The reason I'm here right now, is because I feel I belong. I'm here for Oliver, and for everyone else."

"I think that's why we're all here."

"Yes, but there's a difference between us, and those two, or even Hilda…You and I, we've all done things that we don't regret. I guess even Oliver might regret some of his choices, but I don't regret the things I've done." Oliver turned his eyes from her and moved them towards the television set. What Fan had done growing up in her years, she got into many fights with the orphanage kids, going so far as to kill some out of anger over their attacking Rin. Her protectiveness went without saying, but not without reproach. "I have an acquaintance of mine that's going to Australia to meet someone…Maybe I could ask her to check out that farm and find out if that farmer truly died in the fire there, or if he's elsewhere."

"Sounds good," Oliver's voice was muffled with his hands pressed against his lips. He was trying to steady his aching heart, but it was difficult, and his body felt as if it were on fire. He was imagining what it would feel like to see Dylan or Rin pass on, and it made him sick. "Have her do that first, and then maybe…maybe we can try to convince Dylan to go after his father." He knew it had to mean something, since Dylan never went without wondering if his father were alive. "I don't want to make them think I don't want them around, that's not the case…I just want them _safe_."

"We know, Oliver. Believe me, we know."

Chogan's voice entered the room and Oliver quickly glanced over his shoulder to the man. "Have you seen the news?" Chogan was standing at the edge of the stairs, a mournful expression in his own eyes. How long had he been sitting there listening? The man had been relatively silent since Matata and Una were killed, so no one knew what was on his mind anymore. "Turn it on."

"Okay?" Oliver grabbed the remote from the coffee table and flipped on the television. He was shocked to see the Black Dragons making the headlines, but he had already been aware of military involvement. "They finally decided to go to the press?"

"Yeah, but that's not all. The military discovered what the use of those devices were…I think those kids found out."

"They _did_ find Chase, remember? He's the guy that helped design the devices, so he knows everything about them." Including the volcano bit, unfortunately. "Anyway, let's listen in…" The reporter announcing everything had way too much makeup on. She was a brunette with bright green eyes and a overly-powdered face with way too much blush. "That reporter is a bit distracting though…"

"Tell me about it, it makes me sick just looking at her."

"There's nothing wrong with a little makeup," Fan complained. Ernesto laughed and Chogan quickly protested.

"You call that a _little makeup? _That is an overload of makeup!"

"Nothing compared to the Geishas of Japan, and _they're_ a symbol of beauty." Fan turned her head up in pride while Chogan shook his head, defeated. Ernesto glanced over, smirking at the old man.

"There's no sense in arguing with her, Chogan, you're going to lose regardless."

Oliver laughed for a second, then put up his hand for them to quiet down. When they did, they were able to focus on the news story.

_"A statement by the President and the General of the United States Army, as well as all world leaders, are urging all celebrities to stay inside their homes."_ Not that it would matter _if_ the devices were activated. _"The military has discovered that these small devices being given by the Black Dragons, a worldwide crime organization, are in fact hypnotic disks that are said to give all celebrities some extra strength and control their minds, forcing them to plunge themselves into the sea…swimming to unknown volcanoes…The military is working on an antidote as we speak, while also working to take out the Black Dragons. In many continents, several state and country Black Dragon leaders have been arrested and removed. City dojos are being shut down, and it is believed that three head leaders have been unseated. We do not know the names of the leaders at this time, currently we are asking for more information from the military. This is all they have allowed for us so far. Again, we urge all celebrities: If you have been given this disk from one of your bodyguards…" _An image of the disks appeared in the corner of the screen. Oliver's eyebrows rose and the others looked to him, possibly wanting to see his reaction. He had none. _"Please remain calm, stay inside, and remain as far from the coast as possible. The military is doing everything they can to put an end to this." _

"Well they can certainly try," Chogan remarked sarcastically. "It's amazing that they'd even bother with this." Oliver closed his eyes and slowly bowed his head. What had they gotten themselves into? It wasn't supposed to be like this, they hadn't truthfully began planning this from day one. No, he just wanted family, and now they were a global crime organization. Chogan and Matata, they were the ones who pressed them to go through with all this. "Oliver, are you all right?"

"No I'm not. I feel sick, I'm hurting, I'm angry, and to be completely honest…I don't even know what the hell's going on half the time." Chogan frowned and rubbed his back, comforting him.

"I'm sorry about everything that's going on, I know it's hard. It'll get better, Oliver."

"I'm starting to think it never will. I'm beginning to think nothing gets better in time." He slowly stood up and rubbed the back of his neck, groaning in spite. The others eyed him with concern. "I open myself up to those emotions after all these years, and when I do, it's taken right back from me. I start feeling like I'm getting a family, and _that's_ being taken from me! A-fucking-gain! I mean god, throw me a fucking bone here!"

His shout echoed through the house and his chest heaved from the pressure. His brow furrowed and he slowly looked to the other three, they seemed hurt by his anger. He didn't mean to yell. "I'm sorry…you know I'm not mad at you guys, I just, I think I need some rest…"

Fan smiled and stepped forward, putting her hands to his shoulder and studying his gaze. "You do. Go get some sleep, we'll take care of the house and everything." He lowered his eyes and muttered.

"I need to go see Hilda…"

"She's fine. Get some sleep first, and then when you wake up, we can all go down to the hospital."

"Yeah…I guess so…I'll do that." She lowered her arms and Ernesto put his arm around Oliver's shoulders. He guided him up the stairs towards the bedroom, ensuring that he would go straight to bed. Once inside, Ernesto moved to the doorway and looked back.

"If you need anything, let us know, but _try_ to relax. We all need to…"

"Thanks man." As Ernesto closed the door, Oliver climbed into his bed. His head was throbbing with pain, and his eyes stung him to the point he could hardly keep them open. Perhaps sleep was truly the best thing for him right now. What would he do without these people? If not for them, he would have no problems going to sleep, and never waking up again. It should be him in that coma, not Hilda.

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Well tell me what you think of this chapter, your reaction to Oliver's thoughts and the emotions he's going through.


	31. Hard Loss

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

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Chapter 31 (Hard Loss)

"I really can't wait to see Dad!" Kim exclaimed joyously as she charged ahead of the group. They'd just finished checking out the farmhouse where Dylan Patrick used to live, and someone had fixed up the place after all these years. Another farmer was living there now, and he told them they were the second person to come asking about the previous farmer. The bodies had been the ranch hands that were trying to save the farmhouse from going up in flames.

Now they were close to where Kim's father was, and Jack was thrilled to see her so happy. He never met her father, so he was a little nervous. He did have an odd feeling, however, one that couldn't be explained in any sensible reason. His stomach was churning with nervousness and anxiety, his heart was pounding, and he did feel a chill in the air that seemed to indicate something bad might happen. Nothing bad happened yet, and this moment was all about relaxation, but the eerie calm was disconcerting.

"I hope he's not as protective as your cousin and family are." He laughed and Ciara shot him a slow glare. Appropriate, given how he was spending a _lot_ of time with Kim. She still was a bit wary of that night that he and Kim spent alone in the hotel room. He understood that if he touched Kim in the wrong way, or attempted anything, then Ciara may very well neuter him. Kim looked over her shoulder and wagged her eyebrows.

"You never know, Jack. Dad might see you and he might like you, _or_ he might see you and think you're nothing but an over-inflated punk." He arched an eyebrow and felt Jerry pat his shoulder. The boys laughed and moved ahead of him while he shook himself.

"I am not an over-inflated punk…what does that mean? I don't have an ego!" He quickly moved up to keep the pace. Once again, it was just them, and Phil was still out at the plane. "Anyway Kim, I think I'd rather meet your father than your mother. From what I hear, your father's a good man, so there isn't anything to be afraid of. Right? I mean, I won't get beat by a chisel?"

"Oh relax, Dad's awesome. You'd love him. He's a lot nicer than his sister, and quite a bit nicer than mom ever was." He shrugged his shoulders and started around the corner.

They came up to the archeological dig site where Kim explained being Brian Crawford's daughter here on visitation. The guards led them into the fence and explained where the man should be digging. As they walked through the site, the heavy feeling inside Jack's chest began to return. Not many people were working today, and it was way too quiet for a dig.

They reached the entrance of a cave and started inside, where Eddie began complaining about the darkness. Jerry shushed him and Milton started going on about the statistics of any dangers being inside. Jack ignored them to the best of his ability until they came to a very open and well lit area. Kim froze on the spot and Jack looked ahead, spotting a sight that chilled him to the core.

In the middle of the room was a man lying beneath a pile of rocks. His eyes were in the back of his head, blood was trickling from his blonde goatee and soaking into his shaggy hair. Standing with her back turned to them was a tall woman with long blonde hair reaching past her waist and flowing into a point, like the blade of a sword. The woman glanced at them over her shoulder and narrowed her eyes, slowly clenching her fingers. Kim put her hands to her mouth and started to scream, falling into Ciara's arms.

It didn't take long to figure out what was going on here, some woman had killed the man! Or hopefully he wouldn't be gone. It wasn't until he heard Ciara utter the woman's name that he was immediately disheartened. "Ruthie?" He asked, confirmed by a nod from Ciara. "As in…Kim's mom?" He looked back to the woman and narrowed his eyes as anger whipped through him. The woman turned to face them and smirked dangerously.

"What an unexpected surprise," Ruthie muttered. "My daughter shows up when I kill my ex. I'd been searching for him for a while…"

"Why would you kill him?" He wanted answers. Jack stepped forward, growling ferociously. Kim's weeping affected him deeply, and of course, he was beyond pissed. "What _right_ do you have to take his life?"

"I have every right to do it." She stepped forward, stretching her arms out. She begun cackling for several seconds, ending it with a sharp glare. "Is that my niece as well? Interesting…" Ciara scowled at her while Jack slowly looked back to the two.

"You're not going to do anything to them, I can guarantee that."

"Oh I wouldn't _dream_ of it. It's truly a shame to be here when you showed up, you see I would have already killed him, but an acquaintance of mine asked for me to make a pit stop at some farm." Jack's eyes widened and his heart came screeching to a halt.

"You're not working with the Black Dragons? Please tell me you're not…"

"No, but I know one of the captains. She asked for me to report about the farm, so I did. Gave this pathetic excuse for a man another day of life…" Ruthie looked back at the man and scoffed. "Would you dare try and kill me for it?" He couldn't do that, no matter how vicious the woman was. There was absolutely no way he could take the life of Kim's mother.

"No…it's not my place…" Kim looked up at him, her face full of angry tears. She turned her glare towards her mother and swallowed hard. "Why would you kill him? You two divorced, what do you gain from that!" Ruthie snapped around and locked her fiery glare onto him.

"Do I need a reason to hate him? Do I need a reason to kill him? No, of course not…" She started moving forward, lifting her hands and growling like a rabid animal. Jack flicked his eyes from her gaze towards her long, black nails with a skull painted on them. This woman's hatred clearly ran deeper than just her ex husband or daughter. "Do I have a reason to hate people in my family? Sure…my siblings are the star siblings, I was nothing. My parents almost never remembered me, but that's all in the past…"

"Life hasn't exactly been _easy_ for everyone," Ciara chided with an angry growl. "Dad and Aunt Mary have had lives that were far from easy, and you know that. Don't blame Grandma and Grandpa for your own mental fuck ups!" Ruthie rolled her eyes and pointed her long nails towards Ciara.

"Don't preach to me. You are nothing." Jack slowly looked towards Kim's father, his eyes had turned towards them. He was still _alive!_ Barely hanging onto life probably, but he could probably be saved. The man looked like he was struggling to get out from under the rocks, chances are his lungs were collapsing on him. Without properly thinking, Jack started to run for the rocks.

"He's still alive!"

"Jack, no!" Kim exclaimed. In an instant he felt the older woman's nails digging into his shirt. His breath caught in his throat as she pulled him back and towards the ground. He quickly flipped over, putting his hands in front of him and pushing off the ground. He sprang to his feet, his back turned to the woman. "Look out!"

"Huh-" He looked back in time to see Ruthie performing a wide roundhouse kick. He ducked, avoiding the kick, and jumped up as her leg swept beneath him. "Whoa!" It was probably best that he thought through the whole rush to save Mr. Crawford. Ruthie screamed out her anger and threw a punch. He locked his elbows, throwing his forearms up in front of his face, blocking the punch. Another punch was thrown and he pushed his right foot back for balance. "Hold on, I'm not going to fight you!"

"Then that's too bad, fool!" She locked her fingertips forward and thrust her hand beneath his elbows, slamming her nails into his sternum. Pain shot through him and he quickly hopped back, cussing loudly. "You've just opted to become my next kill. Mark my words, you should have stayed out of my way, my dearest daughter would have been next."

"What? Why! If you're going after her, you're going through me."

Kim protested her mother, only to earn a hiss from the woman. "Don't think I've forgotten when you struck your own mother, Kimmie. I will discipline you for that. But first…" Ruthie ducked down and kicked her leg out towards Jack's ankles. Thinking fast, he jumped up, pulling his feet back. Ruthie roared angrily and rose up, throwing a fist upwards. He bent backwards, avoiding the punch, but taking a slash from her free hand across his right thigh.

"Damn it!" He slid back and curled his fists at his waist. When had this woman made those nails so sharp? He peered down, frowning at the fresh blood coming from his thigh. "What did you do to your nails, woman!"

"Cosmetics, boy…" She narrowed her eyes and started circling him. He watched her, studying her and anticipating any deadly movements. "I recommend you get out of my way." She lunged for him with the swiftness of a snake moving in to strike. He sidestepped her and moved his hand back, pushing her with his palm. She yelled out and fell into the rocks where Brian was. She hissed angrily and kicked the rocks before lifting one and turning towards Jack. "Listen asshole, you will _not_ get the better of me. Any smart boy would know better than to get between a woman and her daughter."

"You're right, this isn't my fault, but I know what you've done to Kim." He took a step forward, clenching his fists. He did not want to hurt this woman _because_ of Kim, but he also didn't want to let this woman do anything harmful to Kim. "I know I said I wouldn't fight you, but if you continue to threaten her, then I'm going to have to intervene…" Ruthie studied him for a minute, then began laughing. He raised an eyebrow at the woman, then looked back at his friends. "What's so funny?"

"Kim dear, did you find a man yet?" Ruthie smirked and moved her snakelike eyes from Jack onto Kim. Kim pushed herself from Ciara and walked over to Jack, standing beside him and glaring at her mother.

"I'll take it from here, Jack…" She was whispering, and it seemed she didn't want to fight her mother. He knew she wouldn't be able to fight the woman, not with the past, so he didn't _want_ to let her do it. It wasn't his place to deny her the fight.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." Jack pressed his lips together as she turned her gaze to him. She put her hand in his, giving it a gentle squeeze. "I'll be fine…just get back. I don't want her to hurt you…besides." She flipped her hair over her shoulder and huffed, smirking. "Only _I_ am allowed to hurt you." He chuckled and stepped back. He would remain out of the fight, but he would still watch to make sure nothing went wrong.

Ruthie chortled and folded her arms over. "So you have found a boy." She tapped her chin, studying Jack for a minute. "I'm not sure I approve of him, he seems to be a bit cocky."

"Oh he is." Jack bowed his head and sighed, now was hardly the time to be attacking him, wasn't it? "But I love him…" His eyes widened and he quickly shot his gaze towards her. His body was on fire and his cheeks were glowing red. He did _not_ expect that. His heart began to pound and his hands trembled. He had to hold back his feelings, considering this was obviously the wrong time to start bringing it up. "Besides Mom, your input on the type of boys I choose to date doesn't really _matter_ to me."

"I see…and where do you get the nerve to talk to your mother like that?"

"You do not _rule_ me anymore, Mom. I'm not letting you control me or hurt me any longer." Ruthie raised her eyebrow and tilted her head as Kim began to move into her fighter stance. She moved towards the side, curling her knees a bit, folding her arms up, and narrowing her gaze. "I may forgive you for the shit you've done, but I won't forget…yet…I'm not going to dwell or let it control the things I do."

"What a _stunning _development! Should I care?"

"There was this woman…she had abusive parents. One day they wound up killing her little brother, she snapped. She lost control and killed her parents, then she went on a path of rage. I am not turning into that, and I won't let you make me."

"Oh spare me, child…" Jack studied Kim's stance, only to see her trembling. It was very slight, almost unnoticeable, but she was afraid of this woman. Rightly so, but he knew she could take her. Even still, Kim never wanted to fight her mother.

"I may not want to fight you, but I will…I'm ready…if it means protecting myself, and those I care about." He started to look past Ruthie, seeing something moving behind the woman. To his surprise, Brian was starting to stand. He opened his mouth, but was too entranced by the movements. Behind Ruthie, Brian raised a chisel. Kim gasped when she finally saw it, causing Ruthie to turn around, all too late.

"You will not hurt my daughter," Brian cried out. He sent the chisel crashing down into her forehead. Ruthie screamed in pain and crumpled towards the ground. Kim remained frozen in fear as her father stumbled forward, the tall man seemed very close to death. She immediately snapped back into place and ran for him, throwing her arms around him.

"Daddy!" Jack and the others hurried towards the two. "Hold on Dad, you'll be okay." Brian sucked in a deep breath, gasping for air, then he began coughing violently. Blood started to drip from his lips, which scared Kim.

"No…I'm not going to make it, Kimmie…" Kim shook her head as her father put his arm around her shoulders. Jack moved over and put the man's other arm around his shoulders, hoping to help him stand. "No, lay me down."

"No Dad, I-"

"Try to understand…just lay me down…" She whimpered and did as instructed. She knelt beside him and hovered over his body. He slowly raised a hand and tucked her hair back. "I'm incredibly proud of you. I want you to know that."

"Don't talk. We'll get help…Milton, Eddie, go get help!" The two ran off in an instant. Brian crossed his hands over on top of his chest and kept his eyes locked with hers.

"I'm glad you found someone to make you happy. You deserve every bit of happiness, sweetheart."

"Daddy stop talking like that!"

"I love you…I only want you to do the best in everything, and never forget…I will always love you. I'm sorry about your mother, I truly am. She won't hurt you again…"

"I love you too daddy." Brian smiled at her and moved his head back, looking up to Jack. Jack's eyes were watering and he was watching intensely, mourning the man, and mourning for Kim. The man motioned with his weak hand, and Jack carefully knelt beside Kim. Ciara watched with a forlorn expression.

"Please take care of her for me." Kim moved her head down onto his waist, sobbing frantically. Ciara put her hand on her back while Brian moved a blood-ridden hand onto her head. Jack slowly nodded and gazed on, his heart tearing into shreds as the man turned his head away and closed his eyes.

The moment the man's body went limp, Kim ripped out a hysterical cry. It wasn't usual for her, but Jack understood clearly that it was appropriate. Even he wouldn't be able to remain calm if he had to witness both of his parents die before his own eyes. He moved an arm around her shoulders, tears welling up in his own eyes, and Kim slowly moved her head onto his shoulder.

He looked over to the man and slowly nodded his head. _"I will, I promise."_ There was no question about it, he would be there for her no matter what, through thick and thin.

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Well, that was tense...your thoughts?


	32. Independence Day

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N: Okay this chapter, BEAR IN MIND, it shifts to three different groups of people on the Fourth of July in three different time zones. What this means is, not everyone is doing all this at the same time. Where the characters are, the prison camp would run through it first, then Jack and Kim in Australia, and the gang back in America. Otherwise, at 10:00 PM on the 4th would mean it's Noon on the fifth in Australia, and 3:00 AM on the 5th at the island.

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Chapter 32 (Independence Day)

"It hardly feels right, Jack." Jack and Kim were walking along the beautiful Australian outback with a brisk chill wind at their backs. They hadn't opted to leave just yet, though they wanted to head back to America and find the Oken family, to see if maybe they heard anything at all in regards to Oliver. Surely someone, somewhere, would know where to find him. Wherever he was, that switch to activate all the disks had to be. It was hard to focus on the task with the tragedies that had taken place, though. "I know mom was…well, a psychotic raving bitch, but…why are they both gone? Mom, Dad…I'll never understand the criminal mind, you know that? Never."

"I think it's a lot deeper than that." He put his hands behind his back and looked up at the brilliant stars in the sky. He knew fireworks wouldn't go off here, they wouldn't go off anywhere besides America. Kim hadn't wanted to see the fireworks this year anyhow, so it didn't make a damn difference for her. "I think it is really just the makeup of a person. Experiences in life, how people cope and handle the things in their lives…I think that's where it all lies. People don't do things for the sake of doing them, they do things because they don't know any other option."

"I guess…"

"A fox caught in a bear trap will chew off its own leg to escape, just the same as a human being would cut off their own leg if faced with no other foreseeable option. It's all about desperate acts…"

Kim slicked her hair back and lowered her arms at her waist. Her head bowed momentarily as she continued walking along. "How do you get desperate enough to kill someone? How do you get desperate enough to do things that just…things that just aren't _right!_" It truly was all about the mentality and human psyche. Then again, some people were just downright insane. "I never knew anything about my mother, to be honest with you. She was always angry, always wanted attention, and whenever she didn't get what she wanted, she threw a fit. Dad…" She chuckled and shook her head. "Dad _never_ struck back, _never_ hit her or yelled at her. _Ever_."

"He sounds patient."

"Really patient! It was like…that was all he could be, because any retaliation just warranted her getting worse." She lifted her head and started scratching at her neck. Her lip curled beneath her upper teeth. "I've never seen Dad strike her. I was just so shocked…to see him actually kill her…" Jack thinned his lips and looked over at her. He slowly put his arm around her shoulders and smiled as she rested her head atop his shoulder.

"He was already dying, he had nothing left to lose but you." She hummed at him. His heart began to melt as it often did with her in his arms, and of course, she was the only one capable of doing just that. "If it were me, I think I would have done the same. He did what he had to in order to protect you, which is exactly what a father ought to do for their child."

"I guess I can't blame him for that."

"I wouldn't." He stopped walking, causing her to turn towards him. She eyed him suspiciously as he started to smile. Fireworks weren't needed tonight, she was the most beautiful sight to see regardless. He busied himself in admiring her hair, then her luscious eyes. "I would hate to lose you. So I can see why your dad did what he did…he loved you. Right now, he's out there watching over you, probably making sure you're safe."

"You think so?"

"Yeah, I do." Her eyes drifted a bit, then returned to his.

"I'm sorry I'm making you miss the fireworks." Everyone else had taken an airplane ride back to America, while the pilot for the private jet, and Phil, remained behind. Jack and Kim would join the others on the following day, where they would continue on to investigate Oliver's father. Kim wanted to stay back because she still felt a connection to her dad, and she hated fireworks. "I know how much you love the fireworks and all, and you're missing them, so…"

"Big deal, there's always next year." She raised an eyebrow at him. He gently caressed her cheek, admiring the fireworks within her own brilliant eyes. "I see them already as it is. In you, in everything you do, the fireworks are there…and they're beautiful, you're beautiful." He smiled as her cheeks began to turn a vibrant shade of red. She closed her eyes and lifted her hand up to his.

"That is one of the cheesiest…pick up line…"

"It wasn't a pick up line. It's the truth." She leaned in closer to him, pressing her body up against his. Her eyes seemed to question him, and her heart could be felt through his chest, matching the beat of his own heart like that of a powerful drum. "I love you, and I don't think there's a better time to say it." He hinted at a smirk and leaned close, pressing his forehead against hers. "Also, no risk of your cousin deciding to castrate me for saying it…but what do you say? Maybe we could…date more exclusively?"

Her gorgeous chuckle delighted his ears and her arms hung around his neck. She tilted her head and brought her lips to his. As he closed his eyes, he could feel his body heating up, and he felt as though fireworks were shooting out from them. Her arms tightened around his neck as she raised herself onto her toes.

After a minute, she pulled back and lowered herself in a breathless pant. He sighed wistfully, longing to hold her longer still. Her eyes mixed with his and her lips rose up. She lowered her hands to his and guided him towards the ground. He moved onto his back and she cuddled up beside him, placing her hand to his chest, and nesting her head at his neck.

"I love you too…and I would love to be your girlfriend." He wrapped his arm around her and tried to fight the grin spreading out on his face. Kim brought her knees up between her waist and rested them against his side. The two gazed up at the stars, thinking only of what it meant to be together in that night. Perhaps also, it was good to believe, Kim was free from her mother. Hopefully the others were enjoying themselves as well.

In America, on Bobby's mansion balcony, Jerry and Eddie hung out at the right end of the balcony's railing while Milton sipped a soda on the left end. Seated in a red chair beside the door, polishing her sword was Ciara, blatantly aggravated about being there. Eddie had his back against the rail, watching Ciara, while Jerry was faced the other way, gazing up at the stars in the sky. "Hey Jerry, you ever think she's thinking about slicing one of us up and throwing us into a boiling cauldron?"

"I doubt that." Jerry glanced over his shoulder at the woman. She _wanted_ to stay in Australia with Kim and Jack, hoping to make sure he didn't get too 'grabby'. The boys were sure he wouldn't, and convinced her to come along for the ride. Though, it was more a grab-and-run ordeal. She flicked her gaze up at Jerry and stopped polishing her sword for a minute. He felt his blood run dry and slowly looked away from her. "Then again, she could still be pissed. It's hard to tell, she always looks pissed off about something."

"I'm sure she's got reason. I wonder what Jack and Kim are up to…"

"I kind of miss them, but Kim wanted some alone time and needed someone there to support her, and Jack's just the guy to do it." While it was true that no one wanted to be alone on the Fourth of July, it still ran deeper than physically. Jerry turned his gaze to Milton. The man was leaning against the railing, facing them, his head turned and gaze drifting aimlessly into the night. "We're here for Milton, but remember his girlfriend's still out there…"

Milton looked from the stars, feeling a pang in his heart. It wasn't hard to feel that Kim and Jack might be hooking up beneath the starry skies. Ciara even got to get a call from her husband, and they had a very long chat, ending off with their own 'I love you' speeches. Jerry and Eddie didn't have anyone special like that, so he had to wonder if they understood his pain.

He tried to tear his mind from Julie, and looked over to Ciara with intrigue. "Hey Ciara, did you say you were thinking of moving to be closer to Kim?" Ciara looked up at him and pushed her sheath onto the blade.

"I am. After what happened with Ruthie and Brian…I know her aunt isn't the most focused. Chance and I were talking, and we even ran it by Nikki and Daniel, we think it would be good to move closer. I want to have Kim live with me, but I don't want her to have to leave you guys. Wouldn't be fair to her, you know what I mean?"

"Yeah, and I think that's fair." He folded his arms and looked off to the stars. He was both proud and happy that Kim would be staying with all of them. It would be hard on everyone if she had to leave the dojo, and he didn't think she'd enjoy living in Prairie all that much. Despite its appearance, he just didn't think it was all that great of a town to live.

"Milton!" The earth stood still for a minute as _her_ voice exploded into his ears. Could it be true? A miracle? He first saw Jerry turning in shock, and Ciara quickly moving to her feet. At the door stood _Julie_ with Bobby Wasabi grinning behind her. His heart skidded to a halt, and he staggered forward, reaching out to touch her.

It was a dream, a vision, a _hallucination_. It _had_ to be. "J-Julie? Is that you?" She ran for him and threw her arms around him, planting a kiss on his lips. Long awaited warmth coursed through him as he wrapped his arms around her, tightening his fingers within her clothes. Her tears dripped onto his face, very real tears. He couldn't believe what was happening. When she pulled away, he stammered his words. "I-I-I must be dreaming…"

"No Milton, it's really me."

"But…but _how_? _Why_?" He pushed his hand through her hair. Immediately he looked to Bobby for an explanation. The man shrugged his arms and began running his finger and thumb along his moustache.

"I can't explain it," Bobby remarked, "I was alerted that a black car was driving up to the front door, so I went to check. When I did, I saw this ninja leading her to the door."

"Did they know we were here?" Ciara put her hand to her sword, ready to fight if she had to. Julie shook her head and sucked in a deep breath of air.

"They didn't know!" Milton felt her hugging tight to his waist, practically crushing him, but he didn't mind one bit. "That man, Oliver…he said he knew Bobby Wasabi might contact you guys, so it was best to send me here. When Mr. Wasabi said you were up here, I couldn't help myself. Oh god Milton…" She buried her head into his shoulder, weeping softly. He lifted his hand and pat her back.

"It's okay Julie. You're safe now…They-they didn't hurt you did they?" Why would the Black Dragons give her back?

"No, but you're going to be shocked when I tell you everything. One, Oliver wanted to try and reach some kind of agreement…sending us back, save Rudy and Miley, and you all would leave him alone."

"You know that's not going to happen."

"But Milton? Why not?"

"We have to stop what they're doing, Julie. It wouldn't be right to back off, but Jack would have to make that call…" Julie looked up into his eyes and slowly nodded. He hoped she would understand. "You…understand, right?"

"I do, but…I'm just glad to be here with you. The others are safe, Rudy's taking care of everyone. He's been training them, managing to find food…building their strength and keeping the others strong." She gasped and lifted her hand up, snapping her fingers. "He even took out that big guy a couple days ago! Matata!" Milton's jaw dropped and the others gazed on, astonished by the news. None of them ever suspected Rudy could take out such an overwhelming behemoth, but at the same time, they weren't surprised.

Milton started to laugh, "Well he is probably stronger than all of us." He hugged her close as the others started to surround them. He could not ask for a better night. "I'm glad you're okay Julie."

"You too Milton, I was really worried about you." She put her head to his chest. He kissed her forehead and slowly looked up to the sky as fireworks began to shoot up. Julie may be the only hostage released, but at least, she had her freedom.

Now, they just needed to grant freedom to the rest, and that included the celebrities that probably had no idea they were captive too. Milton knew the call of duty when he heard it, and Julie's being here didn't make him relax one bit from that call. He would still rise to meet it with the rest, never resting until the Black Dragons were put out of commission!

There were no fireworks at the prison compound, but that didn't mean celebration wasn't happening. As hard as it was to celebrate, they were happy because even they could feel the meaning of Independence Day. Rudy managed to miraculously convince Oliver to send one of their own home, and that person was Julie. Votes had been taken, and while everyone was leaning towards Debbie, the young girl absolutely _refused_ to leave her father behind, so the next youngest had been selected.

Rudy of course felt pride at convincing Oliver to release the girl, and he knew Milton would be happiest. Currently, he was sitting at the table just right of the door, watching Miley slow dance with Will. Even Eileen and her husband Mark were dancing. The couple had _plenty_ of time to talk during their captivity. Oliver gifted them with a radio so they could gather some sort of enjoyment. Old man Vincent was even singing and clapping along with an old time fifties song, and just recently he had been telling stories of his wife, who passed several years ago.

How every prisoner in the compound was hooting and hollering, he wasn't sure, but he suspected it had something to do with the spirit of the holiday. "It's a good thing you're doing for your sister," Amanda told him. He looked over at her with a smile, she was seated on the other end of the table. "For everyone, really…"

"I just don't believe in giving up." She gave him a smile and pointed to his side.

"How is the 'flesh wound' healing?" He looked down and laughed, hoping still to cover up the fact that it actually hurt like hell when it happened. It was healing very well, and Amanda had been doctoring it up a lot. Everyone basically elected her the doctor of the compound due to her medical experience.

"Oh this? It's fine, healing up real well now."

"Good." He was getting along well with her, and she'd even decided to join him whenever he went out to collect food for the group. She was an extraordinary woman, but even she had her bouts of depression. She said she had a huge scar on her chest from where Matata dug into her with his knife before dragging her and her father to the compound. The man, as well as Chogan, made her watch as they killed her father. She told him this in confidence one night when she visited his cell room.

At least each prisoner, he was getting to know piece by piece. He saw her eyes drift to her hands and breathed in slowly. "So where are you from?"

"Pittsburg. You?"

"Nice! I'm actually from there myself, well _sort of_. I mean I was placed there when I went into witness protection." Amanda chuckled and leaned forward, resting her chin on her raised hand.

"You're a martial arts instructor there, right?"

"Yes, the Wasabi Warriors. Those are my students they say are currently fighting off the Black Dragons."

"I bet you're proud of them."

"Couldn't be any more if I tried…" He'd been sensing some disturbance from her, as if she were not enjoying herself as much as the others there. "Are you all right?" She lifted her shoulders and moved her eyes up to his. "You don't seem like you're okay."

"Just got stuff on my mind. I think we all do."

"Want to talk about it? We can head back to my cell, or yours?"

"Sure…why not."

The two moved to his cell and closed the door, the only place to sit was his bed of course, but that wasn't a problem. "So what's up? Why aren't you having as good a time as the others, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I've been here a long time, not as long as some of the others, but long enough. I'm a nurse, I had patients that were relying on me…depending on me, and now I feel like I've abandoned them."

"You haven't abandoned any of them. I'm sure they understand."

"How would they? No one knows where I am, no one knows if I'm dead or alive. To top it off, if and when we do get out of here, I don't even know when I'm going to be able to return to work!"

"It would be hard, but you're a strong woman. I think you'd be able to get back." He did understand that many bosses would be a tad weary about hiring her back on at the hospitals because of her trauma. "You go back to your work, to your patients, and everything will be fine."

Amanda chuckled and swept her thumb across her eyes. She slowly looked at him with a crooked smile. "Your sister's right you know, you are charming and overly-optimistic." Rudy laughed and tugged his shirt.

"It's a gift."

"A bit cocky too, I see. You know, she used to tell stories about you, or at least she would do that with the ones that managed to get her to open up. Mostly, myself and Will…everyone here loves her, but not everyone really knew how to get her to open up. I think it's _great_ seeing her the way she is now."

"Well, she's still just a shadow of her former self, to be honest."

"You're a good guy, and a good brother, I think you'd be able to help her get closest to the way she used to be, and that's basically a much happier person." He blushed and slowly moved his hand onto hers. She didn't pull away, but gazed down at his hand for a minute, then up to his eyes.

"Amanda, I know everything's hard right now. I know we've only known each other for a short time, but I'm a good judge of character. I think you're a strong, intelligent, and beautiful woman. I respect that about you, and I respect you a lot for not letting what happened to you…what happened to your father…not letting that beat you down. I think when we get out of here, and we _will_, you'll have the strength to be rise up and take on the world. You don't have to be alone, I'd love to see you more when we get out of here."

"When, huh…you're still so sure that we'll get out…" She studied his gaze, slowly curling her lips up. He gave her an affirmative nod and smiled back at her.

"I know we will."

"I do like that about you, always optimistic and believing what just about everyone else has lost hope in. To be honest, I think everyone's feeling hopeful now because of you."

"Well, I'm glad about that…"

"Yeah. You know, I would like to see you when we get out. I think that would be great." He spotted a tear going down her cheek, perhaps her lesser memories were still on her mind. Gingerly he scraped the tear from her face with his thumb. Her cheeks reddened at his touch and her eyes drifted down to his hand.

He did respect her, and he wouldn't do anything to take advantage of her, but as they leaned in for a kiss, neither of them argued. When going through a rough, heightened emotional time that they were both in, it was harder to hold back on inhibitions. Perhaps it was just the joy of the night, perhaps it was the feeling of lacking affection for so long, but when the sparks and the fireworks came as their lips touched, they couldn't hold back.

As the partying outside grew louder, the fireworks intensified between them. They fell back, giving in to the feeling of freedom. Freedom from such fearful emotions, freedom of feeling like caged animals, and freedom from hopelessness. No, this was a new and unstoppable feeling altogether.

Afterwards, the two silently sat on the bench, Amanda was staring down in shame while Rudy attempted to comfort her. "Rudy, we just…I can't believe…" She closed her eyes and moved her hands to her arm, covering her chest. Should he apologize? It wasn't _bad_, but he didn't want to sound like an asshole by saying it was _good_.

"We got caught up in the moment, Amanda. I…I would never take advantage of you, believe me." She looked at him and smiled weakly.

"I believe you, I just…I don't know what to think." During the act, her shirt did come off, so he saw that scar of hers. It was a very deep, violent pink scar from her left clavicle, down over and between her breasts, and under her ribcage. An enormous sorrow came over him when he first saw it, and she seemed equally terrified, but he didn't react negatively in any way. "I don't want you to think that I am the type of girl that does that sort of thing. I'm not, I am _not 'easy'_."

"I never said you were." He put his hand over hers, and let her relax her body. She moved her hand from her arm and curled her fingers with his, sadly gazing into his eyes. "I want you to know that I _do_ respect you, and I _do_ like you…a lot. I don't just jump into bed with women, I'm not that kind of guy, and what happened just now…I don't know what it means, I can't say it was bad or good. I mean, it happened."

"You saw my scar. I would never let anyone see that, it's so…it makes me-"

"It's a part of who you are, Amanda. Like it or not, but it doesn't devalue you in any way." She raised an eyebrow as he gently caressed her cheek. He truly deed feel something for her, something powerful. It wasn't easy for him to feel this way for many people, either. "You're beautiful, whether you want to think it or not, you're beautiful. Anyone would be lucky to be with you. Not only is beauty skin deep, but what's on the inside is what counts the most. I want to get to know you even more, if you would trust me."

"Trust is hard to come by."

"I know, believe me I do know…and it takes time, and since we're both from the same place, maybe we can see each other even still after we get out of here? Like I said before…" She gave him a smile and slowly nodded her head.

"Yes. I would still like that. I would love to get to know you more. Just…I would like not to um…do what we just did…until we actually become closer."

"I agree, and again, I respect that. Now what do you say we go back out there and join the crowd?" Her eyes brightened and she slowly reached over, kissing his cheek.

"I'd like that. And…thank you." His heart lifted as he watched her slowly leave the cell. She limped once or twice before rounding the corner. Rudy breathed in and rose to his feet, he would definitely honor her wishes. Maybe, hopefully, there would be something more between them.

Independence day, whether fireworks or not, the spirit could truly be felt all over the world.

* * *

What surprised you, what did you enjoy? Were you shocked, Julie was freed?


	33. Game Changer

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 33 (Game Changer)

"I think we just lost a day," Jack muttered as he gazed out the plane window. One would believe he'd be used to this already, but he _still_ had difficulty wrapping the time zones around his head. When Milton called them to report Julie's arrival, it was midnight for them in America, but two in the afternoon on July _5__th_ for Jack and Kim. What this meant was they'd have to leave really late in order to ensure when they got to America, Milton and the others wouldn't be _asleep_.

The rules of flight remained the same in the private jet as it would an airline from an airport, but their jet was a tad faster. It takes an airliner twenty-one hours to fly from Australia to Pittsburg. It takes the private jet twenty hours, as it was only an hour faster than the average airplane. When they did the math, they figured the best time to leave was 2:00 AM, making it noontime in Pittsburg, July 5th. However, their arrival would be 8:00 AM in Pittsburg on July 6th.

Kim tapped her finger in the air, thinking of the time between the routes. "Well when we left it was the 6th for us, when we get there it'll still be the 6th. Maybe we've gained a few hours?" He moaned and dropped his head onto the wall beside him. He listened to her laugh and felt her head on his shoulder. "You think you'd be used to it, Jack. We've been travelling the world for three weeks now." He lifted his head and turned his eyes towards her. The corner of his lip pulled up and back in a crooked smile while she only smirked.

"I know I didn't actually mention it before, but I've never been a fan of flying. I'm just really glad the pilot is a good flyer." Bobby did have the best pilots on the plane, no doubting that. "Anyway…I'm glad apparently Rudy convinced Oliver to send Julie home. Was that what she told Milton?"

"Yeah. Oliver really was trying to send one of the youngest home. She said Eddie's little sister refused to leave her dad behind, so Julie was the next best." He turned his head to the window with an impressed chuckle.

"Who knew Rudy could be such a good negotiator?"

"He _did_ know Oliver before. I'm just curious to hear what Julie has to say."

"Right." Their conversation with Milton in the others didn't actually get into everything Julie had told him. She'd given the basics, that Matata was dead, Miley was alive, and Rudy was taking care of everyone. However, the only sad thing is, she had absolutely no idea where the island was. "How many islands are there in this world, Kim? If we search every single island…"

"We'd never find them by doing that, there are way too many islands." It sucked that the hostages had likely been flown with no visualization of the surroundings. "We'll just have to see what Julie has to say, I'm interested in hearing how well Rudy's holding up."

When they made it to Bobby's mansion, everyone was waiting for them up on the balcony. Kim rushed past Jack and hugged Ciara. Ciara looked over to Jack with a subtle smirk. "I see you've brought her back in one piece. I trust I don't have to castrate you?" He paled and Kim playfully smacked her shoulder.

"We didn't do anything, only cuddled."

"Oh? Well _where_ was this cuddling? Was it in A-a couch, B-the floor, or C-a bed, and it better not be C…" Jack chuckled nervously and rubbed his neck. It was _so_ 'C', but they honestly didn't do anything besides cuddling up together and watching some Australian shows. They weren't the type to constantly make out or anything, it was far more warming to hold each other and spend time together. "You know I'm just messing with you, right?"

"We know," He replied. Of course, that didn't mean he wasn't about to faint. He'd just imagined Ciara chasing him, brandishing her blade in the air. "You just have a really good poker face."

"Good, I'm glad. However if you _do_ ever do anything to hurt Kim, or you ever get too grabby, don't think I won't strike you down in an instant." She had a very straight-laced expression as she said that, speaking with such confidence and sincerity. How could he _not _take her seriously? Obviously they already told the group about their hooking up, so Ciara had every right to get protective. He only wished she wouldn't do so in a way that scared the living hell out of him.

Although, to put the fear of god into the man that was dating someone you care about was a very crucial part of life. "I would never dream of it." Kim walked over to him and threw her arm around his shoulder, smirking at the others congratulating the two of them. He thanked them and set his eyes on Milton and Julie. "Okay, now onto more important stuff…Julie, free from captivity, I see."

"It feels _so good!_" Julie cheered. She'd already been informed that her uncle was likely in jail, so nobody had any clues as to what would happen to her. She'd been sent to live with her uncle while her father lived somewhere far away, and now she _might_ have to be sent back to her father. "I have so much to tell you!"

"We have time to listen." He smoothed his hair back and walked over to the others. His brow furrowed as he watched Julie spin around beside Milton. "You seem happy, even though you know your uncle is likely in prison right now." She stopped and tucked her hair back. Her glasses were beginning to fog, so she removed them and started cleaning them off on her shirt.

"Yes I know he's in jail, I know there's nothing I can do about that. I was just hostage for three weeks, so yes I'll be happy to be free regardless." She put her glasses back on and leaned against the railing, finally calming down. "No one's going to leave that place the same way they went in, but I think…Rudy's being there is making it easier on everyone."

"You said he's been getting everyone to work out more, right?"

"Yeah, and training them to do martial arts. It's really good! He got his sister to open up…she was worse off than any of the others in that compound." Julie boxed her hands in the air and hung the tip of her tongue from her lips. "The recess area of the compound is just a square metal wall with barbed wire, about twenty feet by twenty feet. There are cells inside the building for everyone to sleep. Rudy's snuck out of the compound to gather food, so none of us know what the environment is like…though it is kind of chilly, but warm still."

"I see. So he's kept everyone safe…I'm glad. It makes me feel good to know we can go stop those devices." He rubbed his chin and glanced over to the others for a second, then back to Julie. "Are you sure you have no clues of where that island might be?" She frowned and bowed her head. He placed a gentle hand to her shoulder and gave her a nod, he understood that asking too many questions right now would be too much for her. She needed time to recuperate. "It's okay if you don't know, we'll figure things out regardless…"

"I know. I can tell you that I don't think Oliver has been planning this mass genocide thing all twelve years. I heard someone say that never came into play until Chogan and Matata came around, I think they might have talked him into it." Jack raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. This was a stunning new development, but would it really change anything? Releasing Julie would have been a game changer anyhow. "I think he has a thing for one of the captains, even."

"What makes you say that?"

"We overheard the guards talking about how one of the female captains got hurt and Oliver's been acting a lot differently sense." He snapped his fingers, narrowing his eyes as he thought on the captains they'd run into. Could they use this to their advantage? If the man had _feelings_ or _emotions_, then surely he could be reasoned with? "When Matata died…he froze up. He looked like someone just killed his brother right after said brother went crazy and hurt an old friend…"

"You're shitting me?"

"Not at all! They're like family."

"Family…that's what Una Mave said…" He met Kim's eyes, she seemed just as astonished. Is Oliver evil, or is he just mislead? Either way he was about to do something so terrible, so egregious, and he needed to be stopped. However, they needed time to figure things out. "If family matters so much to him, then I think it's best we figure out what happened to Hilda Bodil, and find his father and brother."

"What will that accomplish?" Jerry asked. Jack turned to him and began working to process an answer. What _would_ it accomplish? He closed his hands and started tapping his foot.

"If he can be reasoned with…everyone is human, right?" Jerry nodded and the others murmured their agreements. "Then that means he _can_ be reasoned with, we just have to get him where it's vulnerable, and it _sounds_ like family is a vulnerable spot to him. Think about it!" He crossed his arms and smirked triumphantly. "He's been keeping watch over Mr. Truscott, he's sent Julie back…and you did say there was the thought of sending our relatives back as well?" Julie nodded and Jack hummed thoughtfully.

"This was mentioned some time after the first captain went down," Julie added. "Matata didn't want to do it at the time, though." He snapped his fingers again, delighted by her words. He was flowing with excitement now, he could just leap up and dance on the clouds if he wasn't so jet-lagged.

"Hilda! This was after _Hilda_, then?" The others started talking amongst themselves, coming up with ideas, and he quickly quieted them. This was just another piece of the puzzle coming together. "Then it might be safe to assume _she's _the one he's got some sort of feelings for. Una did say she was in a comatose state, so I think she's still alive somewhere…we just have to find her."

"Do you honestly think it's possible to save the bad guy this time?" Eddie was uncertain in his question, and the others seemed plagued by the same certainty. Jack affirmed them with a nod, he thought for sure if they reasoned with Oliver and got him to make a turnaround somehow, then he could be salvaged. "What if he sets off that device first?"

"Well if he sets it off, I guess it depends on what happens. If one of the other captains actually takes the fall for it, then I guess he _could_ be saved if we wanted to look at it this way." Offering the villain a second chance at life? Redemption? Circumstances would have to be crucial enough for that. "I just think there has to be something of a conscience in him…and for some reason, I get the feeling Hilda was that conscience. If he lost that, he would lose hope. I know _I'd_ lose hope if I lost Kim. Probably go on a rampage."

"So then what's our first step?" Milton asked. "Where do we go from here?"

"First we find the Oken family and try to gather anything that might help us talk Oliver out of setting off a bomb that's going to cost millions of innocent lives. While also taking out many people that provide us with entertainment."

Julie wrapped her arms around Milton's arm and leaned close. Jack saw the hopeful glint in her eyes and anticipated her question. "Does Milton really have to go with you? I just got out…I don't want to lose him again." Milton leaned over and kissed the top of her head.

"You won't lose me, Julie. I have to go with them, it's my duty…and we're all a team."

"But…I just got here."

Jack looked at the others with a frown. Their eyes rolled at him and they all began moving towards the door, it was as though they could see what was coming for a mile. With a heavy sigh, he gave in, really not wanting to have to wait any _longer_ to get back to work. "I'll give everyone a week at most to be together. That'll give Ciara some time to find a house she wants, as well as giving everyone some time to do whatever they want while we're all here…fortunately we _are_ in our home town…"

"Really? You'll do that?"

"I won't like it." He jerked his thumb to the others and started to laugh, hoping to smooth away his nervousness at dealing with them. "Neither will they, but we can do it…if it means you and Milton get to spend some quality time together."

"Yes! Thank you!" She squealed and quickly hugged Milton's neck. Milton laughed with her and Jack slowly walked away. He felt everyone's irritated gaze on him and held his head up high while trying to determine a good place to hide from them for the remainder of the week.

At least it could give them some time to plan their next few moves, and hopefully, those devices wouldn't start going off. Another thought that had occurred to him, Julie could stay and look after Bobby. If those devices went off, she could easily call and alert them, since Bobby himself would likely begin acting very strangely.

He stopped walking and looked at his crew with a subtle smile. "Come on guys, a week won't be that bad." They all groaned and walked off in separate directions.

* * *

So how did you like it? Anything grab your interest here?


	34. Betrayed Once More

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 34 (Betrayed Once More)

"One week, he says…" Kim rolled her eyes as she walked through the mall. They'd been there for just a little over a week, and Julie still wanted to spend more time with Milton. Jack gave them their final extension of three days, so it was now the fifteenth. To top it off, everyone was off doing their own thing now. Ciara had to fly in to Prairie and start gathering her things, as she made an agreement with Kim's aunt. The woman opted to move herself and give Ciara the house, so that meant Kim didn't have to move.

Jerry met a girl and began dating her, so he was off on some date. Eddie was busy cleaning up his house, something he hadn't yet been able to do, and would probably wind up falling asleep. How easy it seemed to be lulled into a false sense of security and to be comfortable when returning home. Even Phil had gone in to check on his restaurant! Of course, the man asked Kim to come have something to eat. He'd done the same for Jack, but of course, Jack was busy going over plans with Bobby. Then Milton and Julie were, of course, on some date as well.

Kim muttered as she turned into Phil's restaurant. "I must be the only one that thinks this waiting around is stupid." It would be another day or two before Ciara would be able to fly back! So quite simply, this waiting period _sucked!_ She moved to the usual booth and glanced around nonchalantly at the restaurant. It was, of course, completely empty. Phil was at the counter with his wide and beaming grin. The only customer was Joan, the police guard, and she was leaving with a takeout bag.

"Kim! Are you ready to order something?" Phil moved over to her, jumping with joy. She raised an eyebrow at him and he shrank back. "Sorry, I'm just so overjoyed to be back here!" She closed her eyes and smiled, listening to Joan's departing footsteps and the door closing behind her. She had a feeling that she wanted to talk to Joan, but she didn't know why. That desire was rare, if anything. "I can make some falafel balls real quick!"

"I think I'd just like some water really. I'm not in the mood to eat." Phil moved his eyes down and started back towards the counter. She studied his step and leaned back in her chair. His shoulders were slumped, his expression was that of guilt, and he had a nervous gait in his step. "Hey Phil, are you feeling okay?"

"I'm just fine." She moved her right hand down on the seat and subconsciously let it slide off a bit. Just as she did, something clamped down on her hand. She let out a loud shout and jumped up, freezing at the sight of a lizard rushing onto the wall. Phil looked back at her and she quickly studied her hand, already there was a large purple area with two dots on the knuckle at the start of her pinky. She looked over to Phil and saw him turn away.

"What the hell, Phil! There's still lizards in here!" No, it wasn't that, something else was wrong. Lizards should be expected with Lonnie around, but yet, not a whole month later. Phil pressed his lips together and bowed his head.

"I'm sorry Kim…I'm a wolf with sheep."

"What?"

"A traitor! I'm a traitor!" He fell to his knees and began sobbing. Her heart slammed against her ribs and her eyes began widening. In an instant, the entrance door locked shut. She moved to her fighter stance and narrowed her glare onto Lonnie and the six ninjas that just entered with him. Lonnie smirked evilly and pointed to the back room of the restaurant where Frank and seven ninjas came rushing out. She moved a step back, pressing up against the table. Her vision was beginning to blur and her body temperature was rising.

"Don't worry Kim, we're not here to capture you this time," Frank chortled. Her chest tightened and her muscles clenched. "No, because of your fucking cousin slicing off my _hand…_" He lifted his right arm, revealing a bandaged stump. "That, and Sensei Ty being thrown in prison…we're going to fucking_ kill_ you! I've had it up to here with your haughty behavior, and I'm _done_ trying to talk any sense into you! Thank god we had Phil in on all this…"

"Phil? _Phil_ helped you?" She turned her fiery glare onto the man at the counter, and without thinking, charged for him. Phil let out a scream as she jumped into the air and kicked out, slamming into his jaw. "We _trusted_ you, you asshole!" Phil landed on the ground and curled up, sobbing frantically. She spread her legs out over him and glared at Frank and Lonnie, who were now standing side by side. Lonnie began laughing as he smoothed his fingertips over his lizard's head in smooth strides.

"Yes, we had planned for Jack as well," Lonnie muttered. "Killing off the two stronger members of the group…why is he not here? He's a much more valuable kill." She narrowed her eyes and stepped onto Phil's chest with her right foot.

"He got called away."

Her body was beginning to sweat, her limbs were shaking, and it was becoming excruciatingly difficult to see Lonnie and Frank. Everything appeared as a giant black and red smudge, considering the red uniforms of the ninjas. She'd have to rely on her hearing. She heard Lonnie snicker. "No matter then. When we've ended your life, Jack will be devastated. Phil informed us that the two of you had begun a close romance."

Phil screamed out, begging Lonnie not to reveal the things he'd told him. In response, Kim delivered a swift kick into his head, putting him out of commission. "You honestly think killing me will make Jack back off?"

"He'll be too busy mourning you to fight!"

"Well…you're not going to get the chance to see, because I'm going to take you all out here and now!" She closed her eyes and grimaced at the fire burning her veins. Whatever that lizard bite was doing to her, she needed to fight away the searing pain. "I'm much stronger than Jack is, so you better get ready for the fight of your lives."

"Said the girl with the lizard bite."

"You're cowards…trying to weaken my senses with a lizard." She heard Lonnie and Frank shout for the ninjas to attack. She slid her foot along the floor and uncurled her hands. She focused on the sounds of the room, pulling the quick steps and movements of the fighters in the room.

Flurried steps sounded from behind. She quickly spun around and struck someone in the neck. Next, she delivered a side kick into another ninja rushing towards her. Thinking fast, she put her hands to the counter and flipped over it, kicking out and striking another ninja before landing firmly on the ground. The second she landed, however, her ankles threatened to give out. Her legs were beginning to grow numb. Sweat was already pouring, and it felt as though it were near two hundred degrees in the shop!

She could hear someone screaming and banging on the outside of the shop's window. It sounded like Joan, but she couldn't be sure.

In the momentary distraction, someone struck her in the back, sending her towards the ground. She let out a pained shout as she crashed into the floor and slid up against a table leg. Just then, someone grabbed her heels and started pulling her back. She clenched her teeth as a frenzy of punches and kicks struck her.

Kim put her hands to the ground and kicked her legs up behind her, spinning them out and striking several people in the jaw. "You are not getting me that easily!" The banging at the window ceased, whoever was there had left. She grew disheartened, but refused to let it bother her. _"I have to get out of here…"_

She opened her eyes and winced as the light stabbed her. Everything flashed white and her head was aching. Some red color was flowing down into her eyes and her lips tasted the foul flavor of blood. Rage shot through her as she punched into someone's chest, letting out an angry roar as the sound of bones cracking erupted into her ears.

"My ribs!" One man howled, falling back into the counter. "Jesus it hurts!"

"Just shut up and kill her!" Frank declared. "Kill the fucking bitch!"

"I can't get up!"

"That's right, keep talking," Kim huffed. Her breathing grew heavy and her body was rapidly chilling. _"Shit. One minute I'm hot, one minute I'm freezing…"_ She ignored her shivering and rushed towards Frank's voice, delivering a strong punch. Frank screamed out and someone jumped in front of him, taking her blow to the head. Whoever she hit crashed into the counter. She could feel the person's limp leg touch to hers. "You are _not_ taking me!"

"Will someone fucking kill her! How hard is it to hit an impaired chick?!"

"Oh I _know_ you didn't just say that!" She lifted her leg and delivered a swift roundhouse kick into Frank's side, just barely missing him. Frank grabbed her leg and pulled her down, sending her crashing hard into the floor. "Son of a…" He delivered a strong kick into her stomach, sending her crashing hard into the side wall of the shop.

"You are nothing, Crawford! Nothing! You're just a fucking traitorous bitch." She groaned and put her hand to her stomach, it was doing flips inside her and forcing bile up her throat. She clenched her teeth and started trying to push herself up, only rising to her elbows and knees. Her hair fell down in front of her face as she carefully moved her eyes towards the window of the shop, close enough to see it.

"You have no right to talk to me like that…nothing…_this is nothing, asshole! _You hit like my fucking mother." Frank raised an eyebrow and roared out angrily, throwing a finger towards her.

"Get her! Jesus, get her!" Within moments, she felt several fists crashing down on her. Several blows were delivered to her chest and abdomen, vomit and blood erupted from her lips and mixed with her hair. She moaned loudly and fell against the wall, still trying desperately to stand. The ninjas backed off and she pressed her slimy fingers against the wall for support. She groaned and started attempting to push up the wall. "Are you _seriously_ still trying to stand? Stay down for fuck's sake!"

This was nothing compared to the hell she went to when she was growing up. Frank was just a bag of hot air. All that her mother did to her prepared her for this moment. "You can knock me down as many times as you like, Frank…but I'm going to keep getting up." When she stood, she felt his fist strike her jaw. He grabbed her neck and pounded into her stomach.

"It doesn't matter. When I say stay down, that means _don't get up!"_

"Frank, I think that's enough," Lonnie growled. "She's been beaten down enough." Kim could hear Phil whimpering, watching fearfully as she was beaten. Lonnie continued to tell Frank to back off, but he wouldn't. The other ninjas began rushing out the door, wanting no part of this. "Frank! Jesus, we'll talk about this back at your dojo…We've done _enough!_"

"I'll say when we've done enough!"

"Frank!"

"Shut the fuck up, lizard guy!"

Kim's insides were on fire and rushing out of control. Her lip curled into a smirk as she turned her face towards Frank. He paused and stared at her in confusion. Bile shot up her throat and spewed from her mouth, shooting out onto his face. He screamed out and jumped back.

"The bitch threw up on me!" He raised his fist to strike her once more, but Lonnie called for him to stop once more. "What?!"

"Joan's coming back, Frank! We have to get out of here! She has other officers with her!"

"Shit! Out the back door!" Kim fell to the ground, smiling as the two men ran off. Never before did she think she would be so happy to see the mall security woman. Joan was truly a blessing. She let her arms fall onto the ground and closed her eyes as Joan's voice smoothed into her ears, soothing her. The woman ordered officers out the back door, but Kim knew they wouldn't find Lonnie or Frank. The snake and the ninja were always the best hiders in the world.

Paramedics rushed her onto a stretcher and moved an oxygen mask onto her face. As she continued to fade out, she could only think of Jack, and how he was not going to be able to take this easily. She could only pray he wouldn't be too affected, but just how much would it take to make such a laid back, calm, and patient man to see red?

All the way to the ambulance, she could hear Joan talking to her, making sure she was still there. Somewhere along the way, the paramedics found and confiscated the lizard that bit her. She could only associate her loss during the ambush to that lizard bite. There was no way in hell she would have lost if that happened.

"Stay with me Kim," Joan called out. "Stay with me."

* * *

Ooh someone's going to die soon. *whistles* Well what are your feelings about this chapter? What surprised you?


	35. Seeing Red

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 35 (Seeing Red)

Jack was standing over Bobby's kitchen table with a map spread out on the surface. Bobby was looking down, tapping his chin as Jack explained their planned route. "First we're going to start out going to California, Oliver's family is located in Northern California." He slid his finger from California towards Antarctica. He wasn't pleased to go back there, but he knew the scientists there might know where to find Hilda. "After that, we're headed here to figure out where in the world Hilda's located." Of course, they did want to make a pit stop in Nebraska in order to find the farmer, Cody Patrick.

"So what is all this going to do?" Bobby inquired. Jack rolled up his map and inhaled deeply.

"When we figure out how to reason with Oliver, we will hopefully locate him." He figured also that in order to reason with Oliver, he needed to _understand_ Oliver. Since there wasn't a chance of sympathizing with Oliver in the way of his sorrow over Hilda, he'd have to find something else to comprehend. At least, Kim was safe and sound. Yet, as he thought on her, he did have a sinking feeling in his gut that something was just not right. "Also if we can lead his other captains out of the group, that'll help matters tremendously."

"I have a question Jack, just out of the blue…I've been wondering…during all this fighting, have you killed anyone?" Jack laughed and shook his head, he thought things could be solved with reason and talking. Sadly all of the others had killed, but no one _wanted_ to kill. During Antarctica, both Eddie and Ciara had killed people. Jerry and Milton had killed when fighting off the Zulu Warriors in Prairie. It was hard on everyone, and General Thompson said that _anyone_ that died by their hands during this whole mission and journey would not be a crime. It was all part of war. He kept that in mind in case people did die during a fight, and that had clearly been happening. "Do you think you would kill anyone?"

"What would be the point? I want to try and figure things out, so hopefully I can talk Oliver into just nixing his plan. I haven't seen reason to kill, so I avoid it."

"I guess that's a good idea." Jack turned around and looked over at the front door. Jerry was standing, looking rather disheveled and raw. His face was red and streaked with tears, and he was panting aggressively as though he'd just ran a marathon. With each gasping breath, Jerry moved towards Jack, his eyes locked with him. Bobby chuckled and grabbed his overall straps. "Your date didn't go well, Jerry?"

Jerry brandished his hand in the air. "That isn't it…" That empty pit in his stomach grew more as Jerry began scratching his fingers in his hair. "Jack, there's a problem. You need to come with me…" He threw his hand down and coughed on his words. "Damn Eddie's fallen asleep at his place and Milton's phone is off." Jerry's hands trembled angrily in front of his face. "I can barely breathe…I don't want to have to be the one to tell you this…I _really fucking don't_." Jack jerked back and raised an eyebrow, smiling awkwardly at his friend and growing ever more concerned for him. Jerry rarely ever cursed. "Phil, Kim, F…"

"Jerry relax, calm down." He moved closer and put his hand to Jerry's wrist, looking sternly into his friend's eyes. "Take a deep breath, talk slowly, and tell me what happened. You mentioned Phil and Kim, what's the problem?" Jerry lowered his arms and clenched his eyes shut.

"We need to get to the hospital. Kim's hurt…bad…" Jack's eyes widened, his lungs deflated and oxygen left him. The color started to vanish and his world became immensely dark. _Kim?__Hurt?_ He clenched his teeth and immediately ran for the door, not waiting a second for Jerry to catch up. He needed to see her, he needed to make sure she was safe.

At the hospital, Jack made his way into Kim's room where she was hooked up to a dialysis machine and an IV. He gripped his heart and slowly walked over to her side, dropping to his knees. "K-Kim…" He put his hand on hers as the tears stung his eyes. How could this happen? She was a strong fighter, even stronger than he was! What _happened_? He had to know, he had to know who did this. "I should have been there…god, I wouldn't have let this happen to you." He slowly brought his forehead to her hand and wept at her side.

The heart machine displayed her vitals while the IV delivered some sort of medication, or water, he really wasn't certain what it was doing for her. How long ago had this attack occurred? He lifted his head and peered down at her hand, gasping in shock at the bruise and dots on her right knuckle. _"A lizard bite? Lonnie did this?"_ He felt someone's hand on his shoulder and looked up at Jerry, his heart was aching and his stomach quivering. "Jerry. I think I'm going to be sick…"

"I'm sorry, Jack. She came in about three hours ago, I think."

_"Three _hours?!" Why the hell did it take so damn long for him to be located? Why did it take so damn long for any of them to be notified? "What the fuck was so _important_, that it had to wait three whole hours!" Jerry reeled back as Jack started blowing up in an enormous rage. He was trying to control it, but it was hard to do so. He took a deep breath, seeing the fear and sorrow in his friend. "Look, I'm sorry. I'm not yelling at you, I'm really not…I just…it's Kim…w-what happened to her?"

"Officer Joan had to go into Phil's shop to stop them. Frank, Lonnie, they were there…Phil…Phil was working with them." A chill entered his body and splashes of red flooded his vision.

"_Phil_? As in _our_ Phil _betrayed_ us?"

"I'm afraid so, Jack…Other than that, I don't know what happened. It looks like she was ambushed. The doctors spent three hours operating on her, they're saving her life, but…it looks like she'll be out for a while. She hasn't even woken up yet." He turned to Kim, his heart breaking. He reached over and gently caressed her cheek, then guided his fingers along her beautiful golden hair. It was recently washed.

"They washed her hair, Jerry?"

"Said it had vomit and blood mixed into it." He closed his eyes, feeling his own bile burning him. His blood was beginning to boil. He swore never to do anything out of irrational anger, but if Frank was truly involved in what happened to Kim, then he would be beside himself. "Her insides are a bit bruised up, but should heal within the week." _Great_, they'd probably have _another_ week or two of waiting. Even though it was farthest from his mind, he knew Kim would have hated that. "She suffered a big beating obviously, Jack…I mean, I've tried contacting Phil, but he won't even answer."

Jack sneered at the thought of the man. Hate was always a bitter word to him, but for Phil to let something like this happen? It was unforgivable. "He's a coward anyway." His shoulders slumped and his hands shut tight at his sides as he peered down at the sweet angel lying on the bed. "Have you managed to get in touch with Milton and Eddie? Ciara?"

"Ciara yes, she's pissed. Still can't get a flight out, so Bobby's going to send the private jet out to her first thing tomorrow morning. Milton's phone's still off and I don't have Julie's number. Eddie did answer, he's on his way over now."

"Phil?"

"I think he's still at his shop…what are you thinking?"

"I don't know. I'm just…numb…" He slowly leaned over, kissing Kim's forehead. He didn't want to leave her side, but he needed to interrogate Phil _now_. He had to figure out what the hell went down, he needed to know if Kim put up a fight. He knew she would have, but he wanted to know how badly they got her. The lizard bite had to have influenced her, she never would have gone down in such a way. Lonnie and Frank would have been mincemeat. "They impaired her, Jerry. Look at her hand…"

Jerry gawked at the growing bruise on her right hand. He put his hand to his mouth and turned away. "That thing is worse than the one that bit you."

"Looks that way. I guess the doctors at least got the venom out." He could take Frank trying to kill _him_. He honestly would rather it be _him_, not _Kim_. What was solved by this? He'd been ignoring Frank all this time, just opting not to bother with him, and he _thought_ the guy was finished. He _thought_ the guy had given up. "What I don't understand. Every time Frank's attacked Kim…he's been beat down afterwards, and mostly by her or me. Why hasn't he learned his goddamned lesson yet?" Jack's chest heaved angrily and he squeezed Kim's hand with his. Tears welled up in his eyes as he slowly looked to the heart monitor. Was this how Oliver felt? When Hilda went down, was this how it felt? He pressed his lips together, letting his tears soak his cheeks. This wasn't the fault of Oliver or the captains, he could tell. Not when they released Julie. No, this was all Frank's doing. "Fuck him…"

Jerry raised an eyebrow as Jack rose up and turned away. He hated the asshole. Phil was no longer any better in his eyes, but what was he to do? "Jack?" Jerry put his hand to Jack's shoulder, only to be brushed off.

"Stay here and look after her. When Eddie shows up, fill him in on what you told me…" He started walking off, stopping at the door when Jerry called out to him. He put his hand to the door frame and bowed his head.

"Where are you going?" He lifted his blood fueled eyes up and glared at the red wall in front of him. Was it red to Jerry? No, this was a different paint, a different shade. This was pure rage. His nostrils flared and his eyebrows meshed painfully together, forming a wrinkle in between.

"I'll be back."

Jack glared at the Falafel shop across the mall hallway, he was currently seated in the Wasabi Dojo, trying to simmer down some of his anger. It wasn't happening. "What do I do, Rudy? I'm trying to remain calm…I'm trying to control my anger…but I just can't." Maybe this was more than anger. If Frank acted this way, that meant he wouldn't stop. He would hurt other people, he'd continue a life of crime. Kim would not be his first victim, and surely not his last.

"You've always taught us respect, honor, don't fight unless it's absolutely necessary." He put his hand to his knee and slowly rose to his feet, growling and huffing. His vision was still a darker shade of red, his body heated and muscles flexed. He would put an _end_ to the Black Dragon dojo where Frank was.

General Thompson already stated it would be perfectly fine if he had to put a stop to Frank and Lonnie. They were a part of the Black Dragons, and with their involvement, were considered international criminals.

_"This is personal. I've held off on my anger for so long, I've been patient with this guy for so long. Now he's gone too far." _Ciara slicing off the man's hand should have taught him his lesson!

Slice? Sword? Jack slowly looked up to the red katana on the archway. The memory was so dear and close to his heart, going out and buying the actual katana from the pawn shop. With a swift kick, he struck the wall and watched the vibrations knock the katana off. He reached up, grabbing it, and slicing it through the air, sheathe and all.

He raised it horizontally before his face and gripped the red sheath with his hand. Narrowing his eyes in a deadly rage, he pulled the sheath off and let the light glint off the metal, nearly blinding him. Talk, reason, yes that solved everything didn't it? How many times had he tried to talk Frank down? How many times had reason failed him for the big oaf? He clicked his tongue and snapped his eyes towards Phil's shop.

"I'm _done_ talking."

* * *

So Kim's in a coma, and Jack...well Jack's pissed (Seriously, who all expects Jack to show up with the quote "Heeeere's Jack" XD). So what do you guys think of this chapter? Anything surprising?


	36. Crimson Rage

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 36 (Crimson Rage)

It was quiet in Phil's shop, the door was closed and he was busy trying to clean up the blood and vomit on the floor. Joan wanted to consider it a crime scene, but Phil wasn't interested in listening. He just wanted to clean up the shop and open for business, at least for now. A foul odor came to his nose and he was quick to accuse his goat. "Tootie, you better not be making a mess in there!" He shook his head and started humming to himself.

Did he feel bad for what happened to Kim? Yes, but it was only business. When they arrived, it was Lonnie and Frank that came up to him, offering him an enormous amount of money if he helped them catch her, but he didn't know they were going to _kill_ her. He didn't realize they were going to ambush her and become so violent towards her. Had he known that, he would have refused the money in the first place. "Ah, I never should have worked with them…" Though, he did have an odd feeling that the ordeal wasn't truly over for him. He set his chin atop his mop stick and looked out the window of his shop with a small smile, admiring the peace and beauty of the mall. He could just ignore that growing pit of fear, there was nothing coming his way.

"My people always believed in Karma, but I don't see it…" Karma: What goes around, comes around. "No, it's all business…" In business sometimes you had to work your way up, even if it meant pissing off a few people. Sometimes you work with the wrong people, piss off the wrong people, but you either learn from the experience or you don't. "Frank's in a lot of trouble when Kim wakes up, but no, not me." He laughed happily and began whistling, still spinning the mop in circles on the cracked tile. He was doing his best to ignore the haunting image of Kim against the wall, covered in her own blood and vomit. It pained him to see her in such a shape. "Ignore…just ignore…it's all over now. Everything is _over_, nothing bad is going to happen now." He turned his back towards the window, ignoring the fact that the light that was on in the Wasabi dojo had just turned off. He hadn't noticed that it was on for the longest time, and when he had, he thought nothing of it.

His sense of danger was growing still. _Turn around._

An angry yell, followed by the sound of shattering glass disrupted his sense of calm. Phil's eyes widened as shards of glass cut and sliced his arms and face, and stabbed into his back. "How much! How much was worth nearly killing her!" Jack's voice roared. Phil screamed as he flew face first into his marble-top counter. Jack grabbed his hair, pulled his head up, then slammed it hard into the counter. "We trusted you, asshole! Was it worth it? Was it fucking _worth it?!"_

"Please!" Phil began his frantic sobs as Jack's voice detonated his eardrums. "I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry!" He felt himself being pulled up from the counter, then tossed into the kitchen. He put his hands in front of his face and screamed as he landed on the floor and slid into one of the cabinets.

"Sorry doesn't cut it, Phil! You're going to tell me what went down, why you betrayed us, and you're going to tell me _now._" Jack pulled his head up once more and reached over, turning the stove on a higher degree. The falafel balls in the pan would burn at that rate!

"No! You're going to burn my balls!"

"You shouldn't give an angry man any ideas, _Phil_." Phil whimpered and Jack started to shove his face towards the hot pan. He began screaming and flailing his arms, but Jack's grip was all too much for him. "Tell me when you're ready to talk. What did they offer you that was worth you trying to hand Kim over to them!"

"Please Jack, don't do this! We're friends."

"We _were_ friends before you let two scumbags try to kill my girlfriend. Unlike you, unlike those two, I'm not going to kill _you_. You _will_ talk, though!" He pulled Phil back, but there was no time to take a sigh of relief. Jack put his forearm to Phil's throat, then charged towards the wall, shoving Phil into it and practically crushing his windpipe. Phil gagged and tears flowed down his cheeks. "You want to know how Kim felt? I'll bet you do!" He clenched his fist and pounded it hard into Phil's gut. Phil cried out in pain and put his hands to Jack's wrist.

"No, please! I'll talk, I'll talk!" He sobbed frantically as Jack tossed him onto the floor. Phil looked up at him, holding his arms in front of his face. He gasped out when he noticed the red katana at Jack's hip. "Oh god please don't kill me! Please, I beg of you! I know I fucked up, nothing I can do will take it all back, I know that! I'm sorry! I'm truly, dearly sorry!"

Jack scoffed and put his hand to his forehead. "Get up you pathetic sack of shit." Jack grabbed Phil and pushed him up against the wall. He had no intention of killing Phil, only because he wasn't the type to kill someone begging for mercy. He only wanted to scare the man, nothing more. Phil threw his hands up defensively and met Jack's angry eyes. "I'm not going to kill you, dumbass. You're to pathetic to die, you're going to live remembering what you did, where you went wrong. Now…talk." Phil whimpered and quickly nodded his head.

"I didn't know they wanted to kill her, I would never have taken their money if they did." Jack tensed his muscles and closed his eyes.

"So it was money…Kim almost died because you were given _money_."

"I know it was wrong, but I thought they were just going to take you two hostage and not hurt her!" Jack slapped him hard across the face, causing him to shout out in agony.

"You _honestly_ thought they wouldn't _hurt_ her? Or even _me_? They were targeting _me?!"_

"Yes! They wanted both of you! I didn't know what they were going to do to her. Lonnie brought in that lizard, and a whole bunch of ninjas came with them, and then Frank said he was going to kill her!"

"And what did you do?"

"…hid…" Phil threw his hands up in front of his face once more and squealed. "Don't hit me again, please!" Jack's blank stare bore into him and he spoke with a growing rage.

"Jackass! Coward!" In a single, swift motion, Jack threw him across the room. Phil cried out as he flew against the wall. "Where are they, Phil? Where are they!" Phil pushed his head up as his tears dripped onto the floor.

"Last I heard…the Black Dragons dojo…"

"Okay…and by the way, Phil?" Phil slowly looked back as Jack turned his head towards the shop's entrance. "Consider yourself _off_ the team. For good. I never liked your food anyway, your goat's shit probably tastes better." Phil moaned and let his head fall into a steaming pile of dung that his pet goat had laid moments before. Realizing it, he let out a panicked cry, which fell upon deaf ears as Jack ignored him and left him behind.

It hurt that Phil betrayed them for money. It didn't matter how much, it only mattered that he did it. Now Jack stood before Black Dragon dojo, he wasn't planning on killing Frank, as much as he wanted to, but he wanted to give him one last chance to surrender. If push came to shove, there would be blood.

His anger had only begun to lessen, but the betrayal still lingered in his mind. Lonnie hadn't changed at all, of course. He pushed open the door and started walking through the hall. Once past the main doors and into the open arena, he could see Frank and Lonnie in the center of the room, arguing about how the situation had been handled. Several ninjas were standing around, all waiting the final verdict.

He swallowed his anger and gripped the handle of the katana, waiting for them to notice him. His eyes drifted towards the ground as a small gecko started running towards him. With a sneer, he lifted a mighty boot, and slammed it down on the lizard. "I freakin' hate lizards…" His eyes flicked back to the ninjas and his lips curled into a smirk as Frank and Lonnie turned their heads. "Sorry, had to do it."

"Jack!" Frank spread his hands out and started walking forward, chuckling darkly. "To what do we owe this visit?" Jack scoffed and folded his arm across his chest. He narrowed his eyes and gazed down at the crimson katana against his hip.

"I think you know the answer to that. I've come to talk…" Frank raised an eyebrow and Lonnie questioned the validity of his statement. Jack begun moving forward, eyeing the walls as several different reptiles began oozing into view. He hummed and shifted his glare on the two men. "I only want to talk, I don't wish to fight…I'm offering you a chance of surrender." Lonnie looked to the ten ninjas surrounding them. This would be a cakewalk for Jack, but the reptiles would likely be a distraction. "Give up now, leave this place, and don't ever show your face around me…or _Kim_…again."

"What are you going to do if we don't?"

"Probably keep trying to talk you down the way I've been doing…though some lessons are harder learned than others." Frank laughed once again and glanced over to a muscular ninja next to him. He pointed to Jack and roared out his order.

"I'm done talking. Kill him!"

Jack closed his eyes and sighed. "I was afraid of that." He'd watched Ciara enough to know how to use a sword. He firmly grasped the handle of the crimson blade, listening to the heavy footsteps of the ninja. Strange, they were supposed to learn to run lightly. He counted down in his head, then as he reached one, slid the blade from his sheath and swept it horizontally in front of him. Blood splashed out as a yell echoed through the dojo walls. When his eyes flicked open, he saw the ninja on the ground, cut in two at the waist. "Yeah, you _probably_ shouldn't have done that."

Frank was steaming mad, and the other ninjas were all looking amongst themselves with worry and fright. Lonnie stepped forward and extended his hand with Frank, both ordering Jack's death. "I'll deal with your _princess_ after this," Frank smirked back at him and Jack's anger flared up once more. The ninjas running towards him stopped as he let out a ferocious roar that could make a lion whimper, before they could turn and run, he turned two of them a shish-kabob.

"You're down to seven ninjas left, are you sure you _still_ want to fight with me Frank?"

"Shut up and die already!" Jack peered down as two snakes slithered towards him along the floor. He jumped up into the air, somersaulting over them. When he landed, he swept the sword down behind him, slicing off the heads of the snake. Lonnie screamed out in terror, dropping his pet lizard to the floor. Jack watched the lizard rush towards him, opening its mouth, ready to bite.

He delivered a swift kick to the lizard, flipping it towards an oncoming ninja. The ninja screamed out as the lizard clamped down around his neck. "Get it off me! Get it off me!"

"Doesn't feel too good being bitten by a lizard, now does it?" Jack performed another frontal flip, landing with his feet on either side of the ninja. He lifted the blade, pointing it down vertically at both ninja and lizard. The ninja froze and screamed out as the blade was sent crashing through the reptile and the man's neck. "Sorry Lonnie, I would rather that be you than your pet." Lonnie screamed in full blown rage, then charged for Jack. Frank extended his hand, cussing the man out.

"Don't be a fool, Lonnie!"

"Too late for that." Jack swung his leg up in the air, moving it in a full circle, bringing it back, then crashing it into Lonnie's head. Lonnie fell back onto the ground, slamming his head hard on the concrete floor. Blood pooled from the back of his head as he moaned in pain. "Sorry Lonnie…I'll send your buddy Frank to meet you in hell soon enough."

Lonnie began screaming as his reptiles, snakes and lizards in all, started slithering to him and biting into his body. Jack cringed, disgusted at the sight and the blood curdling cry. He wanted to feel pity for Lonnie, he truly did, but somehow he just couldn't muster enough concern for him. His death was indeed a fitting one.

Jack narrowed his eyes as three ninjas started to surround him. One kicked at him from behind, he ducked down to avoid the hit, then flipped backwards, swinging his heavy foot into the man's head. The other two ninjas tried to strike him, but he back-stepped them, circled behind them, and performed two back-kicks into their spines, sending them crashing into the first ninja.

He moved his eyes to Frank, emitting a low growl as the man glared at him. The man was all out of chances, and still too cowardly to even help his ninjas fight him? "I feel sorrier for your ninjas than I feel for you, Frank."

"They're disposable. I just want them to wear you down first."

"I have news for you. That's not happening. This is your last chance, call off the ninjas and give yourself in!" Frank scoffed and snapped his fingers, ordering his ninjas to continue their attempt to destroy Jack. He clicked his tongue and moved his eyes to the corner of his sockets, listening as one ninja came running behind him. With a heavy sigh, he moved his arm overhand, swinging the sword downward into the ninja's head. "Sorry your boss is so stubborn…" Why wouldn't these ninjas have the decency to leave? They'd stand more of a chance of surviving if they just _left_. "Martial arts is more my thing, I'm not much of a swordfighter, but I'm kind of in a hurry, so…" He leapt up into the air and twisted his body, then swung the blade downwards through the neck of another ninja.

Frank roared once more and began cursing his ninjas. Jack somersaulted through the air and landed next to Lonnie's eaten body. The reptiles near him looked up at Jack, who pointed his blade to the remaining ninjas coming after him. "Okay lizards…rush them!"

The ninjas froze in their tracks and watched the lizards turn towards them. The snakes shot out first, then the lizards followed close behind. All but one ninja began running away, but the one that didn't, somersaulted over the lizards and slammed his fist down into Jack's chest in a risky move that left him skewered by the sword. Jack stumbled backwards and fell towards the ground, groaning as his chest ached from the near crushing blow.

There were no more ninjas left now, just Frank. As he started to push himself up, he felt a sharp blow in his side. "Ugh, you act now that I'm down? Coward…" Frank laughed and grabbed the Katana away, much to Jake's disdain. He didn't think Frank could do much with one hand, but he didn't feel like chancing his luck.

"So…a katana? I'm impressed, I never knew you used a sword before."

"I haven't." He hopped to his feet, ignoring the searing pain in his chest. He narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists before him, ready to strike Frank down. "It's kind of a new deal to me, I think I'll leave it to Ciara. I'm much better without it." Frank raised an eyebrow and shot him a skeptical look.

"You just took out all those ninjas with a sword…"

"I know." He didn't think it meant much, his confidence in his ability to fight with a sword just wasn't high enough. "I may as well treat it like a Bo Staff to be honest, a staff with a sharpened edge."

"If I run you through with this…" Frank chuckled mercilessly and took a step forward, resting the blunt end on his shoulder. Jack wanted to comment on how much Frank was reminding him of Sesshoumaru from Inuyasha, but he felt it was inappropriate to bring up an anime right about now. Frank lunged forward, Jack jumped backwards, earning only a laugh from the buffoon. "Oh I bet you're _scared_ now. Now that I have your katana!"

"Not really no, I'm not all that scared." His anger had subsided for the most part as well, but the fight seemed far from over. He was watching the blade with keen senses, knowing that at any moment, Frank could easily slice something off.

"See, I wasn't too thrilled to lose my hand before…I wonder how you'll look without a hand."

"Probably like you, just thinner." He played with a smirk and started side—stepping in a circular motion with Frank. Frank twirled the blade, then stabbed forward. Jack swished to the side, curling down and putting his fingertips to the floor. He pulled his legs into the air and swept them into Frank's side. He then flipped his legs over his body and pushed himself onto his feet.

"That wasn't very nice, asshole." Jack turned his gaze over his shoulder just in time to see Frank sweep the sword against his back. He let out a deep shout and stumbled forward. Frank rushed towards him, kicking him in the leg and sending him to the ground. Thinking fast, he rolled onto his back and threw his hands up in time to catch the katana in a downward swipe. He let out a loud grunt as the blade stung the meat of his palms. "What are you doing, Jack? Letting me cut you?"

He clenched his teeth as Frank began pushing the sword down with extra force. Fresh blood began dripping down his forearms, a sure sign he needed to change his action. Simultaneously he released the sword and kicked the heel of his foot up into Frank's wrist, forcing the man backwards.

Jack hopped up to his feet and checked his hands, both had extremely deep gashes in the lower palm. He blew on them and winced at the burning sensation generated from the rush of air. "Shit that stings…" He looked back and ducked in time to miss an overhead swipe with the blade. "Whoa! Jesus Frank, here I thought you would suck with a one armed blade."

"Maybe so…determination pays out though."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right." He bent forward and kicked his foot back, slamming his heel into Frank's sternum. The man gasped for air and fell backwards. Using this time to his advantage, Jack removed his shirt and used the hole in the back as leverage to tear the shirt in half. Once he managed to rip it apart, he started wrapping the cloth around his hand as a bandage. He cracked his head to the side and sucked in a deep breath as he slid his fingers along the cloth running along his palm. "Can't have that bleeding out."

"It…won't matter." Frank used the sword to rise to his feet, hissing and glaring at Jack. "I _will_ kill you."

"Shameful, that's what you are." He struck Frank with a frontal kick to the chest, followed up with a roundhouse kick into the head, and finally swerved behind him and dealt a spine-crushing blow with his elbow. Frank screamed out in pain and dropped the katana as he fell to the floor. "I'll take that!" Jack grabbed the katana up and pointed the tip to Frank just as he rolled onto his back.

"Whoa! Take it easy!" Jack narrowed his eyes and clenched his teeth together. Revenge never pays, it didn't take fighting off all these enemies for him to know that. "Come on Jack, would you really kill me?" Frank chuckled nervously and shifted his eyes to the side. "What do you say we let this whole thing slide? I'll leave you alone, I'll leave your little Kim-cub alone too." Jack felt a growl escape his throat, and slowly pulled the sword away from the man.

"Killing you wouldn't be worth it. Not when you're begging for your life."

"Huh?"

"Revenge is never the right way. You'll get what's coming to you eventually. I won't kill you." No, not unless Frank decided to further attack him. He was already feeling rather sick over the bodies already there. "Good riddance, don't show your face around here again." Frank's breathing grew heavy as he turned and began to walk away. He should be so lucky to have his life spared.

Just as Jack reached the doorway, he heard Frank moving to his feet. He stopped and listened as Frank cackled at him. "Yeah right, you should have killed me when you had the chance, coward! Once I kill you, I'm going to fuck your little girl, then I'm going to slit her fucking throat!" Jack's muscles tightened and he slowly closed his eyes, practicing his deep breaths to keep from going wild with rage.

The sound of a pocketknife slicing through the air filled his ears, and a rush of footsteps followed. He waited as the footsteps closed in on him. His lip perked up as his teeth bared their anger. "To think, I was going to let you live. Then you had to go and do this…" He charged for the wall, jumping for it, then pushing off with his feet. His eyes shot open as he back-flipped over Frank.

"Wha-No!" Jack released the katana from his hand, letting it fall and slice its target. Just as the hilt of the blade was beginning to fall downward, Jack grabbed the handle and landed with his back turned to Frank, slashing the blade down and out. Blood splashed onto him and Frank's heavy body crumpled on the ground.

"That was your last chance…goodbye and good riddance…" He sheathed the crimson blade and slowly left the dojo with his head held high. As the adrenaline left his body, the wounds on his hands and his back began to spike with extra pain, reminding him that they were there. He would have to get cleaned up, and he would _definitely_ leave the swordplay to Ciara.

Outside the dojo, he stopped and glanced back, narrowing his deadly gaze. "You'll never threaten us, or Kim, again. Finally learned your lesson…"

* * *

Well, at least he gave Frank a final chance. What did you guys think? Tell me your thoughts.


	37. Sleeper Awakens

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 37 (Sleeper Awakens)

A week later, Jack was still at Kim's bedside, holding onto her hand and praying she would wake up soon. His hands were bandaged up, but his wounds were healing. None of the others had been too thrilled that he'd gone after Frank's gang alone, but they at least could appreciate the fact that Frank would no longer be a issue for anyone. Unfortunately this also meant the reptile shop was going to have to shut down its doors for good, since the owner was now dead. When people went in to investigate, all they found left of Lonnie, and certain ninjas, were eaten bits of flesh the reptiles left behind.

None of it mattered now, all Jack wanted was for Kim to wake. Everything else could fall by the wayside for all he cared. He leaned over and kissed her forehead, then whispered softly as he'd done the entire week. "Kim…wake up…we need you, _I_ need you." He lifted up and gazed down at her sun-lit face. He could hardly think of moving on if he lost her now. It would be difficult, that was for sure.

Now he understood well Oliver's rage, his pain. He knew how bleak the world could feel to not only lose your family, but to lose the one you loved. To lose _everything_. His whole world could crash in a single second, and anything he touched could very well turn into ash for all he cared. Did he have something to use when and if they ever located Oliver? Sure, and he'd have to do his best to convince him to let go of his plans and move on with his life. That was, if he could actually do something so difficult. The man had twelve years worth of rage, Jack only had a week.

He was alone right now, the others were all at Bobby's mansion. They hadn't been able to bear his constant waiting, considering he'd begun to smell like week old fish. He was even growing some stubble along his chin and upper lip, so much so that he was beginning to look like a young version of Chuck Norris. Jack blinked and looked up at the television on the wall. Thinking on it, he _had_ been watching too much of _Walker, Texas Ranger_. He chuckled and muttered to himself. "Yeah…you know you watch too much Walker, Texas Ranger when you start fantasizing about fighting Chuck Norris…and winning…"

He took the television remote from the soft bed and flipped on the television. Two in the afternoon, the show would likely be on. Then again, he'd been watching a marathon of the show all morning. It was a shame they didn't show anything with Jackie Chan or Jet Li in the hospital. Just as the theme began playing, he heard Kim's voice behind him. "Turn on that god awful show, and the first thing I do will be wringing your neck." His eyes widened and he quickly looked back at her, not believing she was actually talking!

"Kim?" Her eyes slid open and a subtle moan left her lips.

"Jack…help me up please." He immediately tucked his hand beneath her back and carefully guided her into a seated position. How long had she been awake? "I've been trying to stay asleep, but all I keep hearing is that Chuck Norris show…I'm sick of it, Jack." His eyes started to well up with tears, and he immediately hugged her. She smiled and hugged him back, tears fled her eyes as well. "God it feels good to be alive…"

"I was afraid you would never wake up, Kim. I never left your side."

"I can tell." She leaned back and looked into his eyes, smiling slightly as she waved her hand in front of her nose. "You smell like rancid cheese and rotten eggs. I thought my smelling was messed up, but I guess not!" He laughed, ignoring the wounded pride. First thing he was doing when he got back to the mansion was taking a shower. He gazed into her cheerful eyes, amazed that she could be so chipper after all she'd gone through. That _might_ end when she learned about Frank, though.

He smiled and gently tucked her hair back behind her ear. "God I love you."

"I love you too…how long have I been out?" She bit her lip and kept his gaze.

"It's been a week." She sucked in a deep breath of air and moved her arms around his neck, finally absorbing everything that happened to her. "Have you been awake long?" She slowly nodded her head and closed her eyes, nestling next to his neck. She felt so warm to his touch. It amazed him how well she was taking this.

"It's been a few hours, I think. I think…I almost _died_ back there…I can't believe it's been a week." He felt her body trembling and raised an eyebrow, was she actually breaking down? She seemed like she was taking it well, but now that her defenses were lowering and she was figuring out everything that happened, she probably would start breaking. "I don't want to sound like I'm weak, and I'm trying really hard not to seem that way, I just…"

"If you want to cry, feel free to cry. There's no shame in it, and no one else has to know." She sniffled and shook her head. He felt her teeth scrape against his collarbone and listened as a muffled sob came from her lips. "You're still strong, and they said you gave one hell of a fight. Frank and Lonnie will no longer be a problem, Kim. I can promise that. I've also…told Phil he's no longer to allowed to travel with us. All right?"

"Uh huh." Her body flinched and tears dropped onto his skin. He moved his hand up and rested it gently on the back of her head, holding her ever so carefully as her sobbing began to increase. He wasn't going to leave her or let go of her anytime soon. "I love you so much, Jack. I really, really do. If I admit…that I was scared…does it make me weak?"

"No Kim, it doesn't. Listen to me…" He pulled his head back and looked into her wide, flooded eyes. "_I_ was scared. I was afraid of losing you." She whimpered as a wrinkle formed between her eyebrows. "I know you want to fight, and I'm not going to ask you to sit out while we continue to take out the Black Dragons, but I want you to know…I will take as long as you need for you to recover from this. I will be right there with you, through everything."

"I don't want to take too long, Jack. I want to get right back out there, you know that."

"I do, and as soon as we can, as soon as you're ready, we'll do that. It shouldn't be hard anyway, we're only visiting Oliver's father, Nebraska, then searching around for Hilda. When we've figured all that out, we'll find that machine and bust it, then we'll look for Rudy. When everything's said and done…we can all come back here and relax."

"That does sound good…" Her lips curled up and her eyelids slowly closed. He leaned forward and gently touched his lips to each of her eyelids, then chastely pecked her lips.

"I love you Kim. Always. Now I'm going to go get the nurse, and the doctor will tell us what'll happen. I won't leave your side until you're able to leave the hospital, okay?"

"Okay…I love you." She continued to cling to his neck, almost as if she were afraid to let him go. In truth, he'd never seen her more vulnerable before, more afraid. Jerry and the others had left some time ago, and he was a little bit thankful, considering Kim probably wouldn't want them to see her like this. "I love you so much."

"I love you. You have to let me go if you want me to get the doctor."

"Just hold me a little longer. The doctor will come in I'm sure…I'm not ready to let go."

"Okay, I understand." He moved beside her and wrapped his arms around her. She curled her legs up and nestled closer to him. While he adored her vulnerable side, he would still be happy to see her return to her normal, fiery self.

"And Jack?"

"Yes?"

"Please turn off that show…" He looked up at the television and chuckled softly as he watched Chuck Norris busting bad guys left and right. He had to admit, there was nothing like the thrill of real life, and Chuck Norris just wasn't it for him. "No, seriously Jack, turn him off."

"I'm on it Kim." He grabbed the remote and flipped off the power. She sighed contentedly and closed her eyes. "You got a real life Chuck Norris though, the guy on the screen is nothing compared to me. Got to admit though, the guy _is_ good looking." With her eyes still closed, she huffed and moaned lightly.

"He'll just turn fat one day like Mr. Wasabi."

_"Okay_ then, so he will."

Only a few hours later and Kim was let out of the hospital. When they reached Bobby's mansion, she'd been able to walk, as she and Jack started walking around the hospital earlier so she could get used to being on her feet after laying down for a week.

Everyone was happy to see her, and celebrations were in order, of course she didn't feel too much like celebrating. She wanted things to get back to normal rather quickly. Jack had gone to take a shower, but wasn't going to bother shaving. Kim told him she _liked_ the stubble, and that it made him seem more rugged than usual.

After the shower, he was looking over himself in the bathroom mirror, examining the battle wounds from his fight with Frank. They were all closed up, but the scarring remained. Slight scarring at best, but still it could be seen.

He gripped the porcelain sink in his hands and bowed his head, groaning in frustration. It wasn't only his back or hands that had been scarred up, but his chest and arms as well. Some of those ninjas had sharp items in their hands that cut him without his knowledge. At least, if he was going to come out of a battle with scars, he may as well come out looking good, and his muscles _had_ grown substantially.

He felt Kim's arms around his waist and froze as her lips glazed over the vertical scar on his back. "Ciara and the others told me what happened…" He became disheartened and looked up into the mirror. She rested the side of her head on his back and squeezed her arms around his waist. "You really shouldn't have done that, Jack."

"The way I saw it, I had no choice. They scolded me for it already…" She chuckled and kissed his shoulder. "I gave them a chance, I really did. Frank and Lonnie…I told them to give it up, that I didn't want to fight, but they wanted a fight. In the end…"

"They lost. I know. Jerry said you went ballistic, and that Phil was curled up in his shop for days." He slid his hands towards his waist, resting them on top of her hands. She tangled her fingers with his and softly kissed the neckline where his hair intersected. "You're all scarred…I would have told you _not _to go in."

"I know. They couldn't be allowed to hurt anyone else." He lifted his finger and cleared his throat. "And if anyone asks, Lonnie's reptiles were the death of him." She tantalized him with her laugh and brushed her nose against his back. He turned around and embraced her, pulling her close. "If it makes you feel any better, I won't try any crazy stunt like that again."

"Yeah, I'd really rather you didn't. Do you know how I would have felt if I woke up and you were gone? I would have died, and I think I would rather die than to have lost you…"

He kissed her forehead and smiled as she put her head onto his shoulder. Her eyes gazed at the mirror and her fingers tenderly traced the scar on his back. If she felt like this, then would that mean Hilda might feel the same way if Oliver were gone? It wasn't the first thing on his mind, but it was definitely something to think about.

"Regardless Kim, I am glad that you're safe."

"Same here, Jack."

* * *

Well, what do you think? Anything worth mentioning? Have to love the Chuck Norris references though XD


	38. Knowing the Others

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 38 (Knowing the Others)

Rudy, joined by Amanda, made his way to the edge of the island where they'd discovered a waterfall many times before. They'd already had all the traps mapped out and the locations that guards were stationed at, so traveling the island in recent days had been a breeze for them.

Rudy pressed his hand up against the stone wall and looked over to Amanda, motioning for her. "Okay, hand me the container." She held out the gallon water jug they'd stolen from the guard's main camp some weeks ago when all the guards were asleep. They used this to take the water from the falls back to their prison grounds. He set the basket of fruits on the ground and moved the jug for the waterfall. They knew it was clean, as most of the water on the island was pure, so there was nothing to worry about. Nobody had gotten sick yet. "We'll just fill this baby up and be on our way." He pushed the jug beneath the waterfall and looked over to see Amanda eyeing a nearby stream. She had a backpack with her that she stuffed with something, but he didn't quite know what it was.

"Yeah, you go on ahead without me and I'll catch up."

"Are you joking? I have to carry the basket with both hands, and I'm not going to leave you behind." She rolled her eyes and removed her backpack, then moved over towards the river stream. As he began to follow her, she yelled for him to stop where he was. Annoyed, Rudy folded his arms and watched over her as she knelt by the stream and started pulling some undergarments from her pack. "Don't tell me you're doing your laundry-"

She groaned and lowered her voice to a whisper. "Shut it. I'm tired and stressed. Haven't had my uh…monthly checkup, you know." He shivered at the thought and slowly turned around. It was true, stress _could_ offshoot a woman's period by a few days to a few weeks.

"Ah. Got it…so then mind if I ask why you're washing your underwear." He moved his eyes to the waterfall, listening as she splashed her hands in the water.

"I spotted. Brownish-red spots, so I'm a little confused. Could just be another stress thing though…" She was a _nurse_, so technically, shouldn't she know about all that stuff? "By the way, I'm going to have to squat behind a tree again, so bear with me."

_"Again?_ You have to be kidding._"_ He turned his head over his shoulder, but kept his gaze ahead of him. She'd been going to the bathroom quite a bit. She stepped beside him, squeezing out her underwear and flipping her hair over her shoulders with a tiny smile. He met her gaze and watched her smile turn into a smirk. "Are you done yet?"

"Nope, not kidding, and yes I'm done."

"Then let me know if you need another break on the way back." He lifted the basket up as she grabbed the water and moved on ahead of him. He slowly shook his head and followed after her. Women were definitely perplexing creatures.

After returning to the prison grounds and watching everyone ration the food and partake in their meals, Rudy decided it best to get some sleep. As he lay staring up at the ceiling, his hands behind his head, he couldn't help but ponder all of the prisoners there. All this talk with Amanda about periods and whatnot got him thinking about the female prisoners there, and relationships among the group.

There were now fourteen of them total, thirteen total adults. Among those thirteen, there were seven men, and six women. Taking out the elderly, Vincent, that made six men and six women. Mark and Eileen were already in a relationship, and talking about the possibility of not going through with their divorce. He still wanted to discuss that with them, though it wasn't his place. They understood, as everyone there did, that he seemed to be the 'go-to' guy. He and Amanda were beginning to date, so that left four men and four women. Miley and Will _obviously_ liked each other, so they had eyes for each other, bringing the count to three on three. Neither Martin or Hector appeared interested in any of the women there, so the count was brought down now to one male left, Pete, and three women.

All three women varied in age. There was Lisa, a short and stocky brunette that didn't seem all that interested in martial arts. She was about twenty-six. Barbara, a tall woman with milk chocolate skin, in her mid forties and a former Olympic swimmer. She _did_ seem interested in Martin, having formed a connection with Mr. Crews. Then there was forty year old Rika Sachiko, a Japanese woman that had been there for a long time, once married, but divorced and using her maiden name.

The reason for pondering on them, Rudy had often wondered if relationships had formed among the ones that weren't recent hostages, and if there had ever been any pregnancies. Other prisoners had been in and passed on, but had there ever been any children there? He never thought to ask, always assuming it inappropriate.

What he _did_ know, which astonished him, Oliver was _not_ responsible for putting all of them in here! No, much like Amanda, almost everyone here had been put in the prison compound by either Matata or Chogan. They didn't even know the names of most of the other captains. That explained why the majority of them, including Amanda, who was one of the best female fighters in the group of women, froze up when Matata showed up and went ballistic. He had to know more.

Amanda's story he knew, obviously he knew Miley's and the relatives of his students. Barbara informed him that she'd been one of Matata's cousins born in America when her side of the family fled Africa several decades ago, she went by her mother's maiden name, Calhoun. He located her and asked her to join him, when she didn't, he threw her in the compound. It was she who informed Rudy that Matata and Chogan _already had_ the compound long before Oliver came along. It was originally meant as a compound for war criminals that the Zulu Warrior tribe came across. The two were in the Black Dragons long before Oliver took over the organization, so when Miley came to the compound, it was only because the Black Dragons saw it fit as a prison for their use as well.

Rudy was also informed that Oliver's father _left_ the Black Dragons organization shortly after Miley's disappearance. His son took over at Chogan's request. So the prisoners already there when Miley came around, the majority were gone, but Barbara and Will had been there, placed by the two men.

Will's situation was similar to Barbara's. Will and Pete were brothers, Chogan was their uncle. They told him that because their mother, Nova married a man that wasn't Native American, they were all thrown into the compound. Their mother and father died several years ago from malnutrition and exhaustion. When asked how long the compound had been in existence in the island, Will informed him that it had been there since the 1990s. He and Pete had been there since 1997, Will had been sixteen at the time, making him, as well as his brother, the longest held prisoners.

The other two prisoners, the ones Rudy knew the least about, were Lisa and Rika. Lisa came to the compound in '08 after having been located by Matata. She did tell Rudy once before that someone in her family had been responsible for a death that occurred within Matata's family, and therefore he abducted her.

Rika was brought in during the late '90s, several years after her ex husband's death. Chogan and the Black Dragons had been after her since then, due to her association with her husband. The man had an affair with a female that was apparently close to Chogan, and when the man broke up with her, it angered the whole group of people that at that time decided to murder the man and his family. Rika assumed her family for dead and ran, but was finally captured in 1998, five years after her husband's murder.

Rudy was awakened by Amanda, "Are you going to get anything to eat?" He slowly sat up and looked her way. His thoughts left the others immediately and he rose up to his feet. "Did I wake you?"

"Not entirely, I was just thinking about everyone here. I was wondering…it seems like Miley and I, and my students' relatives, are the only ones here that Oliver brought over."

"Well you and Miley at least, remember that those others weren't _supposed_ to be here."

"Yeah…" He made his way out into the hall and peered towards the open area. "I know you haven't been here long, but has there ever been mention of children here?"

"I don't know. I know Rika _had_ a family, but that was before she was ever thrown in here. I can't imagine any infants here, just doesn't seem survivable. I certainly hope there were no children…Debbie's the only child." The duo moved outside where everyone was sitting about with their food. Barbara was off at the far left table, talking with Martin and Debbie. On the far right table, Mark and Eileen were seated with Vincent and Hector.

Will, Pete, Miley, and Lisa were on the closest left table. Rika was seated at the right hand table. Her scraggily black hair fell in front of her eyes and beside her chin. She lifted her gaze up as Rudy and Amanda sat across from her. "How come you're all alone?" Rudy asked, subtly smiling at her. The woman lifted her shoulders and closed her eyes.

"I'm just doing some thinking. When you've been captive for fourteen years, only to realize that it _has_ been that long, you start becoming withdrawn." He frowned and slowly nodded his head. It was harsher than he realized, considering he'd not thought about how much everyone probably forgot in regards to time. To some it might have gone by seemingly fast, but to some it might have seemed like an eternity. "When my husband cheated on me in '93, I left him, and a young daughter behind. When I went back for my daughter, I witnessed my husband's death…"

"Really?"

"Yes, and I thought my daughter had been killed too, but she must never have been home…Either way, I didn't realize the woman was with the Black Dragons. It only just began in the early '90s, not nearly as widespread as it is today…It originated in _Japan_. I knew then and there, I had to hide…"

This was amazing news, not such _happy _news, but amazing nonetheless. He looked over to Amanda, his heart racing with the speed of a racecar. His gaze drifted back to Rika, who bowed her head towards the table. "I thought Oliver's father bought him out?"

"Jasper Oken bought the Black Dragons in 1999, yes…when Chogan decided to join the organization and bring it over to America, he needed someone who excelled at martial arts. When Mr. Oken realized the trouble, he left, but Chogan told him his son had to stay involved. Oliver had no choice but to join and become the leader." Rudy's jaw dropped. A chill ran down his spine and he was certain his bladder was on the verge of emptying its contents.

"Then where do you come into play?"

"Isn't it obvious? The Black Dragons put me on this compound." She took a deep breath and clenched her eyes shut. "Not a day goes by that I don't think about my daughter, and I wish I knew where she was."

"How old would she be now?"

"Twenty-three, her birthday was on the 3rd of July. I spent three years running from the Black Dragons, and then two years searching for my beloved daughter…only to get taken in my sleep one night and thrown into this hellish place." She chuckled in vain and moved her fingers to her eyes. "I have no tears left to cry, to be honest…" Her fingers slid down her cheeks. Rudy felt sick to his stomach, he couldn't imagine the pain this woman had gone through. Hell, half of the people there, he never quite pictured just how badly they were affected. "I've seen people come in here, _families_…Miley, Will and Pete, they're not the first to witness their parents passing in this godforsaken place. Then you come spreading your hope, and everyone believes they're going to be rescued."

"Optimism is a good thing." Did he have doubts? Yes, but he fought those doubts for the longest time. It wasn't until he realized Jack and the others were searching that he was sure they'd be rescued. "Look Rika, I'm sorry about your family. I know it's hard…but I promise, when we get out here, I _will_ do everything in my power to find your daughter…I'll try my best to help everyone here."

"I believe you, but I don't know if you can."

"Nothing is impossible. You all thought I couldn't get out of this place, everyone thought there was no chance of building growth, and I'm _pretty sure_ most people didn't believe Matata would _ever_ die." Rika laughed and cupped her hand over her mouth.

"I really shouldn't laugh at that."

"Laugh away!" Amanda proclaimed. Rudy raised his eyebrows and grinned at her. "It might be wrong to laugh about it, but at least laugh because…you're happy. I'm happy he won't do anything to anyone else again."

"That is a very good point." Rika leaned forward, studying the two of them. She pointed a finger at them and Rudy leaned back, gazing with caution. "You two be careful with your newfound relationship. Don't think I don't know what happened on the 4th." Their eyes widened and Rika smirked.

"Y-You wouldn't tell anyone would you?"

"No, but I want to warn you. There was a woman here before all of you…a young girl, she and Peter over there had a romance going on. Young love. She ended up pregnant with twins." Amanda awed and leaned forward, putting her hands to her cheeks and relaxing. A deep sorrow passed over Rudy. He looked over to Pete, curious as to what happened to this woman and her children. Since they weren't _here_, did it mean they were dead? As he pondered this, a lump formed in his throat.

"They're gone," he pointed out. Rika slowly nodded and shut her eyes.

"Chogan came to kill the babies, but only killed one of them. The poor girl…she died protecting the baby, her death spared the second one. Only, the twin died a few months later…malnutrition." Amanda gasped and threw her hands to her mouth, whimpering in fear. Rudy looked over at her, then to Rika.

"It was one time, and we aren't going to do it again. We may be at the dating level, but we're definitely waiting until we're _ready_ for that sort of thing before we start having sex."

"I understand, but I just feel it's fair warning. No relationships have formed since then…this is really the first in a long time that I've seen _anyone_ close like that. An infant just cannot survive here."

"I see…" It was time for the martial arts practice, so talk was over. He would heed Rika's warning, but it truly was further from his mind. He was still mostly concerned about everyone's involvement and reason for being here, and he was truly hoping that when they were all out, he could reunite them with their families. For sure, he wanted to help Rika locate her daughter. That much was deserved.

* * *

Well a _LOT_ has happened here, what are your thoughts on it all? From Amanda noticing some spotting, to the history of the prison camp and Chogan's/Matata's whole history with it, and even down to Rika herself. Any speculations on who this woman is?


	39. Oliver's Father

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 39 (Oliver's Father)

"He was a good kid." Jasper Oken sipped his coffee as Jack and the others hung around the living room. "Haven't heard from him in a decade though, seems he dropped off the face of the earth." This man had a very southern drawl not associated with a California accent, it was surprising to say the least. The man didn't even look like he was from the state. He was wearing a blue plaid button up, denim jeans, brown cowboy boots, and a black cowboy hat with matching shades to booth. If he had to take a guess, he'd say this man was born and raised in Texas.

"Where are you from, Mr. Oken?"

"Dallas, actually…lived here ever since I was in my late teens though. Met my wife-ex wife-on a summer camping trip…Bible camp, if you can figure that!" The man removed his burning cigar from the ashtray and brought it up to his lips. "I know I asked this before, but just wantin' to make sure, you don't mind if I smoke?" Jack lifted his hand, smiling politely. Smoking never really bothered him much, though he did hate the smell of tobacco. "For the record, I don't know where my wife is, and frankly I don't give a shit. When she divorced me, she took my son and half my stuff."

"Should have signed a prenup," Ciara chortled. Jasper scoffed and waved his cigar between his fingers.

"It wouldn't have mattered. Oliver still came to me long after the divorce, and his little brother looked up to him like a hero. Their mom and I divorced in '94. Woman practically ran me off with a bat, figured I had one son already and I wouldn't get the other." Jack folded his arms over and looked around the living room. The pictures that adorned the wall were all of the family, a happy father and his two boys. Above one photo of father and son performing a martial arts move together rested on the fireplace was a black belt. Jasper followed Jack's gaze with a proud smile. "That's my boy, Oliver, he loved karate. We joined this group, the Black Dragons…a man convinced me to buy it out, and then I realized what they were."

"What they were?"

"Yeah." Jasper smashed his cigar into the ashtray. Jack nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of sparks and ash crackling amid the soot. He looked back at the man and watched him prop his elbows up on the silky brown couch. "They'd been around since '92 or '93, can't quite remember when. I didn't know it at the time, but they were just a small band of thugs…"

"They're worldwide now." Jasper raised an eyebrow and tilted his head towards the side.

"Tell me something I don't know, son. That organization was the death of me, and my two boys…they've both forsaken me. My boy Lance, he'll be turnin' twenty-two now…he spends his college years getting high and doing drugs, and _angry_. I'm not quite sure where I went wrong, he blames me for lettin' Oliver go. My wife, the she-devil, oh she blames me too."

"What do you think happened?" Jack put his foot up on the footrest and leaned forward against his knee. Jasper let out a loud gruff and carefully lifted his fingers to his shades.

"Well shit, I don't know…" As the man removed his shades, revealing a large scar over his left eye, Jack felt his stomach flip into his chest. He contained the urge to vomit at the sight, and looked away just as Jasper put his shades back on. "That Indian, the fucked up native American went and took my son."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Jasper put his hands to his knees and rose to his feet. Jack was very confused by all of this. _Chogan_ had something to do with it? Jasper sucked in a deep breath of air and put a heavy hand upon Jack's shoulder, glaring into his eyes. He lifted his free hand and pointed to his shades, growling as the others watched with nervous gazes.

"I wanted no part of that organization. That man, Chogan said they needed a leader that could fight well. A strong young leader, of course, we told him to look elsewhere. He said I was free to go, but that he would keep my son as the next leader of that organization…well I fought him, and he stabbed me in the eye with a fucking arrowhead. A reminder that you can't stand up to his kind. It ain't too _pretty_, now is it _son_."

"I'm sorry, sir." He hadn't meant to be rude, he just hadn't expected to see such a sight. Jasper huffed and slowly closed his hand around Jack's shirt collar. He closed his eyes as the smoky breath hit his face and scalded his eyes. "I just, I think that Oliver is still out there, alive Mr. Oken. We've been looking."

"Then bring me back my boy. I don't care what he's done, he's my son. If you see that crazy little son of a bitch that poked my eye out, do me a favor and stab that asshole a new one for me. Thinks he can mess with my boys. I'm sorry I ever met that fucking son of a bitch and his African partner."

"That is a _lot_ of hate," Milton muttered. Jasper growled and released Jack, spinning around towards Milton. The man moved towards him and began poking him in the chest.

"You lose an eye and one kid to a guy that shows himself to your youngest, and come back telling me whether or not you give a rat's ass about the man!" Milton chuckled nervously and took a step back. The six foot five, broad shouldered man was a terror to someone so skinny.

Jack tugged on his collar and looked towards the picture of Jasper and his sons. He was a bit worried if they were following the right guy or not. Sure, it made sense, Oliver going after all the celebrities because he was angry at them. "Mr. Oken, do you believe Oliver is capable of a crime to the magnitude of genocide?" Jasper looked back and scoffed.

"Look, I understand my son was rightly pissed off when his fiancé died because some international pop star was too angry to help. You have to understand, my son has a good heart…" Jasper turned towards Jack and began a menacing walk in his direction. He could feel the sweat dripping from his brow and sought to keep his cool, though he felt like a giant was about to trample him. "There's no fucking way he would have abducted his best friend, or even thought to do something as bad as killing all the celebrities without being _guided_ into that direction."

"Is that what you believe? Someone might have swayed him into doing something like this?"

"I _know_ my boy. I know the boy that my youngest looked up to, and that's the man that my son would be. Lance needs his brother, he needs someone to tell him those drugs he's been messing around with and the prostitutes he keeps bringing home…to his _father's house_, no less! That ain't the lifestyle he ought to be living. I can't get through to the kid, his mother's plum out of our life, has been since the divorce and since Oliver went cradling to those fucking Dragons."

The room was beginning to spin and heat up under the man's shadow. Jasper's anger could be felt a mile away, he was sure of it. "I don't know if Oliver is too far gone or not, Mr. Oken, but we can certainly try to talk to him…"

"Tell me boy, how many of them dragons have you unseated? Is that African still there?"

"Matata? No, someone told us he'd been killed." Jasper laughed and smacked his hands together in a triumphant cheer.

"Dear lord someone did the impossible!" Jack raised his eyebrows and looked over at the others, every one of them wanted to hightail it out of there. Hell, even he was beginning to get a bit antsy sitting there. He yelped as the man's heavy hands smacked onto his shoulders, bruising his collarbones. "Now let me tell you something, That Indian is something else, he may not be crazy like that guy just mentioned, but he's scrappy. He's old too, so he probably doesn't fight fair. You run into him, be careful…and for the love of god, do _not_ let him get on top of you. You will die a painful death." Jack swallowed as numbness rattled his body like a punching bag. The corner of Jasper's lip shot up into a smirk. "When you do take him out, tell him I said _hello_."

"I will be sure to do that, sir."

Afterwards, the group boarded the private jet for Nebraska, all still silent and shaken by their visit with Jasper. They didn't at all suspect all they learned, nor did they think Jasper had been through such a living hell. There was hope that Dylan Patrick's father would be easier to deal with.

Eddie was the first to break the chilling silence, causing everyone to jerk into reality. "Was it just me, or did that guy seem a little bigoted to you?" Jack lifted his shoulders and peered out the window.

"Seems like he had a pretty valid reason to be, if he was." Bigoted might not be the word he would have chosen for Mr. Oken. No, _angry_ was more like it. Vengeful, bitter, these were the more appropriate and fitting terms. He understood the hate that flowed through that man's veins, for he now felt it. Once you've felt such bitterness, such loss and hatred, you never would forget it.

Jack turned his gaze to Kim, who just days ago woke from her coma. His heart swelled beneath his ribs as he watched her chatting with Ciara. The anger he felt when Frank hurt her had long since left him, and yes he had moved on, but never again would he forget how it felt to come within a hair's edge of losing the closest person to him, and even when he'd already lost his family to the Black Dragons.

"You heard Mr. Oken, that Chogan did some real damage to him and to his sons. _Both_ of them. Now I don't know if Oliver's evil or just misguided, but we still have to stop him from going through with his plans. No matter what it takes…"

"Agreed, and hopefully we'll be able to talk him out of his plans, right? Is that what you're hoping?"

"Yeah, that's what I'm hoping for…" Maybe family was important to Oliver. Perhaps if he knew his father and son were alive and needed him, he'd go back to them. Then there was Hilda, whom the group had yet to find, but he could feel them closing in on her. If possible, maybe they could use her as fuel to convince Oliver to turn back and to take a second chance at redemption. "If all else fails, Oliver dies with the other captains and we tell his father the bad news."

"Shit," Jerry replied, sweeping the sweat off his neck. "I really would hate to have to tell that guy his son's dead. For a minute there, I thought he'd start reaching for a shotgun somewhere."

"Yeah I know, but that's the risk we have to take." He didn't want to be the bad guy to these family members. He didn't want to be the bearer of bad news, but it was the job he'd been tasked with. All he was mainly concerned about was saving Rudy, saving the relatives, and saving the celebrities. "Either these guys make the choice to change, or they die…I really don't see any other way to go about it."

Was it unfair? It may very well be. It was a hard decision to make to take someone's life, even if they had ill intentions. He could very well understand Oliver's rage over what happened to Hilda, since the same thing happened to Kim, and he could understand Oliver's upset at losing Lilly twelve years ago. Still, it didn't justify what was going on. Whether or not another man might be pulling the strings, now that was something he hadn't thought of.

"Just means more investigation, 'tis all, boys…" He blinked as everyone eyed him with stunned expressions, slowly turning to laughter. He bowed his head and started to chuckle. "Well hell, I'm talking like him aren't I? Eh, it'll pass."

* * *

Well Jasper's rather intimidating, and with good reason. What did you guys get from this chapter? Anything surprising? What are your thoughts?**  
**


	40. Unload the Bomb

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 40 (What a Bomb)

"Yes I convinced him," Chogan stated while informing Ernesto of the history regarding the Black Dragons. "There are many things that Oliver isn't aware of. We wanted a leader that could be influenced." Ernesto's frown deepened as the two men walked through the gardens out back. Chogan bowed his head and brandished his hand in the air. "I know a lot of it isn't right, and you have to believe me…I've begun seeing him almost like a son to me."

"A son that you've manipulated and lied to." Ernesto was appalled by this news. It was one thing to feel bad about being deceitful, but it was another thing to bounce back from it, and Chogan wanted to do just that. "All this time, you and Matata made him believe his father and little brother were dead? You even tainted his brother by…" Ernesto gagged on his own innards and quickly shook his head. "I don't even want to think of it. We all revered and respected you, Chogan."

"I _know_, that's the problem…" He turned his gaze away and folded his arms across his chest. "There's probably nothing I can do to fix what's been done." Nothing? No, there wasn't a damn thing that could erase the trauma suffered by the many. However, letting Oliver go and realize his family's _still alive_ might be a start. "Matata and I…we wanted the Black Dragons to become something more, we wanted something that would make us _feared_ by the world." Ernesto raised his eyebrows and stopped moving, watching as the old man continued walking a few feet ahead. Chogan looked over his shoulder and frowned at him. "When Oliver and his father joined…and then that girl died…it became fuel."

"So what, you convinced him to kidnap his best friend, and now the Black Dragons are going to wipe out all the celebrities? Playing off of one man, using _him_ as a catalyst? Playing off of his anger and his hurt?" He felt as though someone just stabbed a hot knife into his gut and was violently spinning it inside. He was lost and confused, how on earth would Oliver take this? He was his best friend, he deserved to know. "Chogan…why tell me this now? What do you have to gain?" Chogan lifted his shoulders and looked towards the sky.

"Hilda's accident and pregnancy has reminded me of Oliver's past fiancé."

"So…you're feeling guilty now?"

"If you want to look at it that way. I don't wish to tell him right now, I am uncertain how to do that, as well as what to do. If you can avoid telling him, them please hold off on telling him." Ernesto pushed his hands into his pockets and slowly shook his head.

"I don't know how to answer that for you. He's my best friend, he and Dylan. I can't just lie to them." Chogan had also informed him that Matata was the one that burned down Dylan's farmhouse, but they hadn't known the father survived. It was tempting to wonder if they had anything to do with Rin's family, but that was perhaps too much. Yet, it seemed like Chogan and Matata knew more about the captains than they'd realized. "I need to process this first."

"All right…"

"There wouldn't happen to be anything else you're not telling me, would there?" He was skeptical of all the information being given to him. Something was telling him there was more to this picture than what met the eye. "Why did the Black Dragons burn down Dylan's farmhouse? Why did the Black Dragons do everything that they did?" Chogan turned fully, rubbing his creased forehead.

"Everything was scare tactics, trying to build the organization…establish fear, and try to shun people who might try to take us down. I know I've not been completely honest, there are many things that Matata and I had kept hidden." Ernesto scoffed and threw his hand out in anger.

"Child molestation being one?"

Chogan immediately became defensive, lifting his index finger and shaking it viciously in the air. "That was one time! I didn't touch the kid either." No, but it still counted if the person revealed themselves to the kid somehow. "I was only trying to scare that man Jasper into staying in the group, didn't work, so we fought over his eldest. Was it wrong? Maybe, but I've never been accused of being _right_. Oliver could be trained, he could be manipulated…"

"And now he's an angry person because you pulled a few strings. Well congratulations, you've managed to turn him into a puppet with no hope of a life. I hope you're happy." Ernesto turned away and started walking off. He was disappointed in Chogan, and he felt a tremendous sorrow for his friend. He pulled his hand from his pocket, revealing a small tape recorder. He'd recorded everything based off of prior suspicions, but now he just didn't know what to do.

He looked back at Chogan one last time, studying the man's sad, wrinkled face. "I wouldn't say I'm happy at all, Ernesto. Not at all…"

"I'm scared," Rin mumbled as she and Fan waited in the line of a drugstore. She hadn't been feeling very well lately and was throwing up all over the place, so she wanted her best friend to be there with her for what she was about to do. "What's going to happen if this comes out positive?"

"Then we'll deal with it from there," Fan replied. Rin saw a smile that reassured her, but deep in her heart she was terrified. Oliver was already trying to get her, as well as Dylan, to leave the organization. They didn't _want_ to, and the news that had been discovered regarding Dylan's father, she was so happy for him, but it made her think about their future. When she started getting sick, and displaying a bunch of signs towards a possible pregnancy, she was righteously frightened. She'd been so ready to tell Dylan to go to his father, that she would be fine staying with Fan, Oliver, Ernesto and Chogan. Though they knew best that she'd be tormented if she had to separate from him, but equally tormented if she had to lose Oliver and Fan as part of her family.

"I love him so much that I would rather he be happy. I'd rather _he_ be the one to go away from the organization, to live with his father. I'm too scared to leave everyone."

"Well if you're pregnant, you can go with him."

"But what about _you!_" She looked towards Fan with wide eyes. A sharp feeling struck her chest and tears sprang from her gaze. "You're my sister, we've never parted." Fan laughed heartily and pulled her into a warm and comforting hug. A gesture that was very well appreciated and met. "You're my sister and I love you."

"We'll always be sisters no matter what, Rin. If it turns out that you _are_ pregnant, you have to consider Dylan and that baby." She did have to admit, Oliver and the others had a point when they said this life wasn't the life for them, that it was dangerous. If it turned out that she was pregnant, the danger might only increase. "Now come on, let's pay for this thing and get it done."

"Right." She set the pregnancy test kit on the counter and watched nervously as Fan paid the cashier. Rin was truly anxious to get this done. So after they paid, their first visit was the store restroom. "I've never used these things…how the hell am I supposed to aim where I pee?"

"It's not hard."

"Have _you_ used them before?" Fan's cheeks went red and she quickly declined the statement. Suspicious, Rin turned away and walked into a stall. She opened the box, fidgeting multiple times in the process before she finally pulled the test kit out. Her eyes glared as if it were a syringe, then slowly turned to the toilet. She whimpered and leaned her head back against the stall door, closing her eyes and calling out to Fan. "What happens if I miss?"

"Then you drink a lot of water, and try again! Don't worry, you won't miss."

"I hope not." She carefully slid her pants down and moved onto the toilet. For her, this would be a defining moment. As she stared down at the object in her hands, literally holding _fate_, she was tempted to start crying. "Fan…I'm scared…If I _am_ pregnant, I _do_ want the baby to have a good life, but…"

"It _will_ have a good life if you and Dylan can get yourselves up and out of this organization."

"I know, but I mean family-wise. You know how I feel…I've always wanted to find Momma. I always wanted my babies to have _grandparents_, Fan."

"I know Rin." She knew Fan had spent a large amount of time trying to locate Rin's mother over the last few years, but the trail had gone cold. It was just assumed that she gave up because nothing was ever found. "Look at it this way. If you are pregnant, and you go to live with Dylan on his father's farm…the baby will have a grandfather. I think Dylan even has some grandparents of his own still alive living with his father. To be honest…you do to."

"I _do?_" Shock surged through her body and she quickly looked up to the stall door. "W-Why didn't I know that?" Why then, had she gone to that infernal orphanage? Why had she suffered through years of hell and torture?

"They thought you were dead with your father, I think. I researched it a long time ago. They moved to America, somewhere in California, back in 2000. Your grandfather, Sachiko Yuki, has done some work with famous actor Jackie Chan." Her heart literally jumped to her throat and her fingers almost lost their grip around the pregnancy tester. She was in total shock, total disbelief. Her _grandparents_ were alive and well. Tears stung her eyes and she fought down a sob. "I managed to find out about them a few months ago, Rin. I didn't know how to tell you, or if it would matter…I'm sorry."

What difference would knowing have made? "I wish you would have told me." Maybe Fan knew what happened to her mother! This wasn't exactly the time or place for this conversation, but she couldn't help herself. "Tell me more, grandfather's name is my mom's maiden…"

"Right. Sachiko Yuki and Sachiko Amaya, parents of Sachiko Rika. They moved to America shortly after your mom's disappearance with an offer to help direct with Jackie Chan. I _still_ haven't located your mother, but there is something else that I found out about in regards to what happened to your father…and what I think may have happened regarding your mom. I don't think your mom intentionally left you behind…"

"W-What?"

"I'm not sure, but it involves Chogan and the Black Dragons. That's a conversation for later though…take your pregnancy test first."

"R-Right!" She had hope now. If her mom was out there, if her grandparents were still out there, then she _had hope!_ Maybe she could be secure if she left the organization. She wasn't certain, but any glimmer of hope was good enough for her. Now, she just had to make it through this test, if at all possible.

"I _want_ you to go to your father," Oliver said while urgently pacing back and forth before Dylan. Dylan was holding a cell phone in his hand and staring with wide, frantic eyes. He was about to contact his father, and he was terrified. He'd been discovering things that he never thought possible, like the reason the farm in Australia burned down. Chogan's and Matata's manic episodes. Now given the number to his father, whom he hadn't been able to contact in so long, it was like a dream come true! The joy, the bliss, it was _unimaginable!_

Even still, it broke his heart that Oliver wanted him out of the organization. Sure he was promising that they'd always be brothers, best friends, but just the thought that he'd be separate from someone he was so close to was a terrifying thought. He wasn't even _considering_ his own 'safety', as Oliver said. "What if…what if I find out that my Dad-"

"What if he wants to see you, Dylan? What if after all these years…he wants you to move back in with him? You're going to, obviously."

"I don't want to leave Rin, I don't want to leave you or Ernesto."

"We'll be fine, but I guess we can talk about that later…just press the call. You have the number dialed."

"I know." His thumb trembled above the call button and sweat drenched his clothes. He felt like he was having a heart attack combined with an epileptic seizure. No matter how still the world stood, no matter how steady and slow he breathed in his attempt to calm down, he was still terrified out of his mind.

To his dismay and surprise, Oliver reached over and hit the call button. He let out a terrified yelp and stared as the phone started ringing on speakerphone. When a man's husky voice came on the line, he nearly sank to his knees. It was instant recognition of his father's voice! "Hello? Who is this?" Tears drenched his cheeks and he tried desperately to answer, his own voice wavering like a fickle leaf in the wind. "Hello? If this is another one of those telemarketers-"

"H-Hello, D-Dad…it's me…" It was like talking to a ghost of his past. He grasped his chest and started sobbing as he drifted down to his knees. Oliver rested a palm on his shoulder and he slowly looked up, half expecting his own father to shun him for impersonating a son long thought dead.

"Dylan? I-I never expected to hear from you. After all these years…I just had visitors asking about you just yesterday." His eyes widened and he moved his hand to his mouth. _Visitors?_ Could it be Jack's crew? "They said you were still alive, but I didn't believe them…"

"I-I thought you were gone, Dad. I thought everyone died in that fire. I was with Oliver, when we went back…oh god…"

"That was some group that did that, son. Made me and your mother run to America. We thought we lost you in the outback, then when they said bodies were found, we thought you were in that wreckage. Your mother's passed, Dylan. Right now all that's left besides myself is your grandfather, my old man, and he's not doing too well." So much for the family lineage, which Dylan remembered his family always wanted him to carry on the family name and have many children so their descendants would be around for generations to come.

"I'm alive Dad, I'm still okay. I-I have a girlfriend too, my fiancé. She's Japanese." He chuckled nervously and listened as his father let out a cheerful laugh. The man had his phone on speaker as well, as a much older sounding man hollered with excitement. "I've missed you."

"So have I son. Please…come home. Come home to me…Your grandfather and I are moving down to California, they have some of the best treatment centers. You see, your granddad has some sort of bone disease, and we think he can be best treated there…please come home, and bring that lady of yours."

"I-It's hard. I have good friends and-" What was he saying? Family was beyond important, it was the single-most important thing in the world! He looked up to Oliver and began to wonder what it was that would make him leave, what it was that would make Rin leave with him. "I'll think about it Dad. God knows I've missed you too…"

Soon the conversation was over, and Dylan was plagued with doubts and concerns. His granddad was left alive with some sort of bone disease? This wasn't good at all! Of course, the man was old. If it was his father's father, then that was Andrew Patrick, born in 1925. Eighty-seven years was a damn good life.

Before he could react to anything going through his mind, the door flew open and Rin came walking in with Fan. He slowly rose and met her own tearful gaze. She rushed towards him and threw her arms around him, which confused the hell out of him. "Rin? Why are you crying?"

"I'm happy, but scared at the same time."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing's _wrong_, it's just…Dylan…you do love me?"

"Without question." He'd do anything for her, go anywhere with her. She never needed to question his love for her, because it went without doubt and without reproach. "Are you okay?" Then she dropped a bomb, a bomb that changed everything.

"I'm pregnant."

* * *

So, so much happened in this single chapter, so much to comment on. Tell me, what stood out to you? What surprised you? What did you think of Chogan's confession, Dylan's speaking with his father, and even the reveal that not only was Rin's family still around, but she's _pregnant_ to top it off! Lots of stuff going on in this group.


	41. Finding Family

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 41 (Finding Family)

That was it, there was no option, he was forcing them out. Oliver pushed Rin and Dylan onto their plane, all their stuff was packed. He'd given them a few hours to recover, even going so far to get Rin to a free clinic that could do the official test real quick for her. They eventually came around to the idea that it was best they start leaving. For Rin, it was great because Dylan's family was getting ready to move to California, where _her_ grandparents were. They were getting an option to have their families back, while also taking care of a small baby themselves. This was best for them.

Ernesto wasn't able to come along for the ride, and Chogan refused, so they'd already said their goodbyes. Ernesto was on his way to the hospital in Argentina to check up on Hilda. Oliver wanted to go with him, and had been seeing her every single day, still hoping she'd awaken, but he had to be there to deliver Dylan to his parents. Fan was also joining them for the ride, she wanted to say her goodbyes to Rin as well, all the while swearing they'd still be sisters.

He was depressed thinking that he'd never see them again, but in spirit, he knew he would. He really wanted Ernesto to come along, but it was his needing to get back to his base and get some other work done as well. Chogan wasn't going anywhere, but he seemed to be getting some work done too. "I know you guys don't want to leave the group, but this is for the best. You know that…"

"Well we'll always be family," Dylan responded with full hope. "I still want to see you guys and spend time with you guys, you're our best friends." Oliver's heart swelled as he moved his gaze towards the window. Family was more than just blood, family was who loved you and who you loved. "We're going to miss all of you guys, so…_try_ to come around if you can." Oliver smiled at him and watched Dylan put his arm around Rin's waist. Fan was looking towards the ground, seemingly upset.

They understood the inevitable. There was a good chance that everyone that stayed within the organization would die. He was saving them from that same death.

Arriving at the farm was an emotional moment for all of them. Dylan had contacted his father, letting him know they were arriving. With each step, he grew more nervous than before. His father was accepting of Rin being there as well, especially considering she was truly pregnant.

At the front gates, he began trembling. In the distance was a small car heading towards them along a gravel path on the opposite side, "I've known the same thing for twelve years, the same people, and now I have to make a change this big?" He felt Oliver lightly shake his shoulder and looked over towards his friend, reassured that everything would be fine. "I'm thrilled to see my father again, but…I'm terrified."

"It'll be all right." Rin put her head to his shoulder and moved her arm around his back. Her smile warmed his heart and soothed his nerves. "You're not afraid he'll reject us, are you?" His lip twitched as the wind brushed against him.

"No, not that at all." He turned his gaze towards Oliver and Fan. Dylan felt like crying, but he wanted to remain strong. "I feel like I'm losing you guys forever."

"You're not losing us," Fan replied, "We'll always be in your hearts even when we're not physically here. Besides, we may all swing for a visit every now and then. Who knows? We're all still friends here, and we always will be. It's just become far too dangerous for you two and a _baby_. Whenever Hilda wakes up from her coma, we'll probably send her off too, for her own good."

"Really think she'll wake up?" Oliver doubted himself once again. Dylan gave him a smile and pat his shoulder. Oliver met his eyes with an awkward chuckle.

"She'll wake up bro, you just have to have faith." It was understood that Oliver had a very pessimistic way about him. With all that he'd gone through, all that he suffered, there didn't seem to be a lot of reason for him to remain optimistic. Ernesto and Dylan had been the ones, besides Hilda, to keep him up in spirits. "Anyway, we're glad you guys are here…I don't think I could do this on my own." Oliver smiled back at him and Fan nodded briskly.

Dylan turned towards the gate and watched the small brown car parking just before it. His heart began to throw itself into his ribs, his palms started to sweat. His eyes were glued on the two men moving out of the vehicle. One man was his father, a thin older man with a full head of light blonde hair and stringy bangs before his eyes. He had a stubbly goatee, and a pleasant, nostalgic smile on his face. The grandfather was hunched over slightly, walking with a spiral wooden cane, had thin and wispy hair, and liver spots that adorned his body.

Cody Patrick took a deep breath while the gates began to open. The man looked ready to pass out on the spot. "Dylan…" Dylan moved forward with Rin, tears welled up in his eyes as he felt her moving her arms around his arm. "My son, you've grown quite a bit."

"Dad…This is Rin, my fiancé." While they never actually _proposed_, they already spoke of marriage one day. They wanted to spend their lives together, and nothing could change that. Cody acknowledged her with a smile.

"You have a beautiful woman at your side. I cannot say that I'm not proud." Cody moved towards him and spread his arms out. "Come here son." Dylan pulled away from the others and hugged his father, careful not to squeeze too tight on the man. As the grown men let their tears run along their faces, Dylan could feel Rin's soft hand at his back. "Finally found you…"

Oliver felt his heart swell and cry as he fought the urge to jump for joy. He looked to Fan, her straight-laced face was wet with tears. He knew once they said goodbye to Dylan and Rin, the true chances of seeing them again might not be so good. He wanted so desperately to see his family again, but he knew they were all gone. Chogan and the Indians, Matata and the Zulu Warriors, they'd killed all his family. It would truly take a miracle for them to be alive. "It would be so nice, wouldn't it?" He asked in a whisper-quiet voice. Fan looked towards him with an arched brow.

"What?"

"To see family again…"

"Probably. I never knew my birth parents, so I can't say much about that. The only family I know is the one I have now. Also, Ernesto and I are finding some things out that worry us a bit about Chogan…"

He slowly closed his hands and bowed his head, he felt pretty shitty in regards to Chogan. He knew the man was crazy, influencing him and pressing him to go in certain directions. All these years, the man was just simply ignored. Now, it was getting harder and harder to ignore him. "I know. He never quite wanted me to release Miley, and then when Mr. Stewart ran…" He started to cringe, recalling the vivid memory of Mr. Stewart charging through the door and being ripped apart by those guns. "I have lived with that…for so long…"

"Just relax. There's nothing anyone can do about that anymore. Though maybe we could convince Chogan to release some of those prisoners?"

"Maybe…" He inhaled deeply as Dylan and Kim started to turn towards them. It was time to say goodbye. All the years of friendship, all the fun and pleasant memories played in his head like a slideshow. He would never forget these two, no matter what happened. "Once family, always family." Hopefully these two would finally have a good life. Their friends hugged them and he tried in vain not to cry.

On the prison island, Rudy was startled by his sister waking him up, he nearly fell flat on the ground. Miley was always quiet, but rarely did anything happen around him that he didn't notice. "Miley? I know you've heard of _knocking_." He slowly sat up and glanced into her worried eyes. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing's the matter, I was just…I remembered something that I wanted to show you." She pulled him up from his bed and started dragging him out the room. What was so important that she had such an urgent demeanor? He flattened his lips and moved into her room, not seeing anything out of the ordinary. "I kept it hidden since Daddy died in 2007."

"Something of Dad's?" He watched her crawl beneath her bed and reach up, scraping her finger in between the bed and one of the boards. As she came back from beneath the bed, he could see her holding what looked like a _fingernail_. His blood curdled as she extended it towards him. "Miley…tell me you didn't keep dad's fingernail."

"It's not a real nail. I don't know what it is, but on the one side it looks like a regular nail…beneath it, it looks like some sort of chip." He carefully took the nail and started to examine it. It was a thumbnail, and it wasn't discolored like a dead nail ought to be. It was pink on one side, but green with tiny circles on the other side. "When we were taken in, Daddy actually removed it."

"That's a gross thought."

"I know, that's what I said. He started studying it, but didn't know what to do with it. He said it was important, but I don't know."

"Important, huh?" He couldn't see any importance for an old nail. Nor could he understand why Miley wanted to show it to him. It did look like a microchip of some sort, but why would there be one beneath their father's thumbnail? As he played with it, he noticed it was flexible. He bent the nail like a sandwich and Miley's eyebrows shot up.

"I've never done _that_ before."

"Me either. I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to throw this thing away…I don't see it as anything important." She shrugged her shoulders and followed him into his room, where he chucked the nail into a nearby trash bin. "So why did you want to show that to me again?"

"I just thought maybe you'd have some idea what it was for. Dad would take it off and reattach it many times while trying to figure out what to do with it. Whenever he reattached, it never came off unless he pulled from the front."

"Great…" He started to feel nauseous just imagining his father pulling off a thumbnail. "Now I'm going to be sick." She bowed her head and crossed her arms.

"Sorry…"

Chuckling, he gave her a hug and started to guide her outside. "Don't worry about it, Sis. Let's go mingle with the others." She agreed and shut the door behind them, leaving the room for later use.

In the bin, just several minutes later, the bent nail had a tiny red light shining beneath it. The light began to grow, warming the entire nail.

* * *

So what did you think of the chapter? How did you like the reunion? Anything surprise you there? Also, what are your thoughts about this thumbnail microchip? Apparently Rudy just accidentally turned _something_ on...Your thoughts?


	42. Espinage: The CIA

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N: Something to understand in this chapter-It has a man and a family that are NOT OCs at all. The family is mentioned in Hannah Montana, and the man's perspective is (like Rudy/Jackson) is played by Billy Ray Cyrus in "The Spy Next Door". Also try to remember the extended family of the Stewarts, this man is the alleged twin brother of Robby Ray, whose daughter was that "evil twin" Luann.

* * *

Chapter 42 (Espionage)

Bobby Ray, also known under the alias of Colton James, returned home to his family in California after a long day at his former partner's wedding. Agent Bob Ho had recently, with the help of his new wife and three stepchildren, taken down a criminal that escaped prison. Their boss had turned on them as well, calling Colt a 'dumb hillbilly'. Finally, he could get some rest. At fifty-four, he was truly ready to retire from the CIA. It didn't help much that his daughter was a part of the agency now, but she took after her mother, and the rest of the whole damn family.

Currently he and his near thirty year old daughter, Luann, resided together. His eldest brother, Earl, also lived with them, but didn't come out of his room much. Luann always said she didn't have time enough to get married or start a family yet, not like her father had done. Of course, his wife Amelia, was killed in action back in 2002 while trying to decipher some strange device. It was hard to lose her so soon after having lost his twin brother's family just a year before.

Earl Stewart was also a part of the agency, or he _was_. The sixty year old man retired about five years ago, and Colt was just a year or two until retirement himself. Earl's wife, much like Robby Ray's wife and children, had been a civilian. Robby had given up the life of espionage for that Susan girl. When she died, he still had to take care of his children, and he provided damn well for them. Their mother, the kids' grandmother, Maxine "Mawmaw" Stewart, was a long since retired spy as well. She spent her spy days overseas and always went on and on about how the _Bond Girls_ had nothing on her when she was younger. She lived next door to the family, and would _occasionally_ give them advice, but she never quite found motivation enough to come out of retirement. Even at her age, eighty-two, she could _still_ kick ass.

Together with Earl and Luanne, Colt had tried for years to locate his brother and the children. All to no avail. Whenever they asked Maxine, who normally stayed up with the times, she often would state she had no idea how to figure any of these things out. He'd all but given up hope that he would ever see his family again.

Inside the average appearing living room, which could quickly turn into a high tech home, Earl was lounging on the dark brown sofa and watching the game. "I was wondering when you'd get back," Earl commented. Earl was wearing a denim jacket over a blue shirt, and brown pants. In his fat hand was an ice cold beer from the fridge. "Want a beer?"

"Nah, I'm good man." Colt sat beside him and stared at the television, raising his eyebrow in irritation. An episode of _Unsolved Mysteries_ was on, and they were talking of the disappearance of Hannah Montana. His heart ailed him at watching the footage they had of his niece. "Why are you seriously watching this?" Earl looked over and lifted his shoulders.

"You never know if they found something yet."

"Earl…" His eyes rolled while his brother took a swig of the beer. "If _we_ ain't found them yet, then how the hell will anyone else find them?" His brother sighed heavily and bounced the tip of his beer bottle towards him.

"Still you never know. They could be alive somewhere, but it's Luann that keeps looking for them…" His chest stung with guilt. Luann _was_ the only one still looking. He looked every now and then, but unfortunately he could never figure out how to locate them. "You said it yourself, Robby Ray should know how to activate the locater device. So why hasn't he? You think he's dead, or that it's fallen off, but those things are impossible to remove unless you know _how_ to remove it."

"Yeah, yeah, tell me something I don't already know." His eyes turned towards his thumb, and his lips fell flat. Robby was the last person in the family, besides Luann, to have a locater put on at birth. Susan never wanted Jackson or Miley to be fitted with those devices, she never wanted them to get involved in espionage. "Maybe he's forgotten. We were all eighteen when we got involved in spy work, Robby quit when he turned twenty-two…when he met Susan and had a son. So he's never had to worry about activating the chip."

"'When in danger, activate the locator chip so we can find you.' Seems simple enough." Earl let out a gruff noise and narrowed his eyes. "I'd hate to think all this time it was one of our family enemies that took them."

"Doubtful, none of our enemies ever knew Miley was Hannah Montana. With that being said…they took Hannah, they took her 'manager'…and Jackson is in Witness Protection somewhere." They actually did know where Jackson was, being a spy had its perks. Rudy Gillespie. "Now, I've been thinking, after all these years…what do you think about uprooting the family?"

"What do you mean 'uprooting' the family?"

"Well you know our nephew lives in Pittsburg. We should move there." They could take Grandma Maxine with them, and Luanne seemed relatively happy about the idea. The only problem with moving there _now_ was Rudy himself had gone missing. "Now I know they said Jackson went missing, but could there not still be some form of hope in finding him?"

"Maybe, I think the news said the Black Dragons took him. The military is already taking care of that situation."

"Yes, but they still haven't found them."

"Nope. Just like they haven't found Robby or Miley…I don't think they're quite as driven as your daughter is." Earl glanced down the nearby hallway and shook his head. "Every day it seems, she's trying to crack the code and manually turn on that locater, you need to tell her to take a break and start dating or something. I don't have kids, she's like the only one left that can carry on the family line!"

He laughed heartily and glanced off at the hallway. "I don't think she's too worried about that, Earl." Both he and Luann had tried for years to manually turn on Robby's tracer, but never could access the code. His father was the one that set up the trackers and the ability to manually turn them on from a distance, but when he died, he neglected to say _how_ to do it. No one ever cared, because they never thought it would become necessary to activate a tracer from a distance. Now when it mattered, they couldn't even hack into the complex codes. "She could get any guy she wanted anyway. She just wants to find her cousins and uncle, so I don't blame her."

Luann was a beautiful woman nowadays. She wore contacts, had long, luxurious brown hair that she usually let flow freely at the middle of her back. She had a stunning hourglass figure that made Colt have to fight off _many_ men, but that was before she started kicking their asses herself. Sometimes her contacts would fail her, so she would be rendered blind until she could either find them or find her glasses.

The front door shot wide open and the elderly matriarch of the family, Maxine "Mawmaw" Stewart came trotting in. Colt was already springing up, expecting an intruder. Earl didn't budge, being the one used to their mother walking in unannounced. "Don't you ever _knock_? I do have a doorbell, ma!"

"Yes, but I wanted to know how your partner's wedding went."

"It went fine." Colt took a seat as the woman moved behind the couch. She still had her vibrant red hair, which was amazing for her age, but she'd shrank considerably over the years and just couldn't fight the way she used to. "Won't be seeing much more of him, I expect. He's retired for good. I'm hoping to retire soon here…I guess that leaves Luann to carry that torch."

"I've always been proud of your daughter. Where is she now?"

"In the lab downstairs," Earl muttered. They had a secret hideaway 'lab' that they accessed through a door that appeared to be a simple closet within the stairwell. Once in the 'closet' they would punch in a code on the keypad hidden behind several clothes, and they'd descend into the giant underground base. "She's doing some more research on trying to crack that code."

"Didn't she just get back from doing some work in Alaska?"

"Yep." Luann had to go to Alaska and hunt down some criminal stealing all the sled dogs to make profit off them. Either by selling the dogs, or killing them and producing items to sell off them.

Colt laughed once and leaned back, closing his eyes. "That girl will _never _take a break, and you know it." Behind them was the stairway with the closet door in the wall. The door opened up, and Luann came rushing out. As soon as she did, the house started flaring up with red lights and an alarm. Colt's eyes went skyward and Earl jumped in fright.

"Dad! Uncle Earl! Grandma! Come quick, it's on!"

"What's on?"

"Come!" They all rushed into the closet without a clue as to what was happening. Colt always stated the alarm was never to be used unless it was an emergency. He punched in the key code and felt the floor descending. Within seconds, they were staring at a vast high tech laboratory. "To the computer, Uncle Robby's tracker has been activated!"

His heart started to pound, and just as the floor reached the ground of the lab, he charged off the elevator. Earl turned off the alarm while the others followed in a heated pursuit. When he reached the computer, his breath caught in his throat and his eyes froze on the monitor. The monitor was a map of the world, and somewhere in the ocean, a green dot was flashing rapidly. The green dot was indicative of a locater being activated, and since it wasn't in America, it wasn't anyone in the family's that he knew was around. It _had_ to be Robby's, though!

"Holy shit you're right! What did you do, Luanne?"

"Nothing! I was just going over some paperwork and I turned around, all of a sudden there it is, that little blip flashing out its signal. Someone must have figured out how to turn it on." The tracker was indeed a thumbnail attached at birth, replacing the real nail, it still grew and acted just as a real nail did. In order to remove the tracer, one must carefully lift up the front end of the nail, which would make the pointed edges of the nail under the skin retreat for easy removal. Once removed, to activate the nail, it must be folded shut to where the microchip was pressing against one another. "Dad…I think we found them."

"Maybe, but where…we need the coordinates!" He started typing furiously on the keyboard. Wherever the family was being held, they'd have to do their research before infiltrating. "They could be in a dangerous location, we'll need to do all the research we can. Also…Mom, Earl, would you consider coming out of retirement for this?"

"You don't even have to ask," Maxine replied. Earl agreed with a nod. As he typed, a nearby printer started act up. Maxine grabbed the paper and started to read off the coordinates. "Latitude and Longitude, they're on a remote island -45.980217, -3.793947." Colt's brow furrowed and Earl started to pace back and forth.

"Interesting, that's just a little north of Bouvet Island." Earl pointed this out and rubbed his fingers along the corners of his mouth. "Remember when we had to do some renaissance mission on that island back in '83?"

"Yeah, we also had to pay Bouvet a visit back in '03. This island is just north of that…I can't believe we were that close!"

"Right…" Earl moved to another monitor and took a seat. "I'm going to try to get some satellite imaging now, so we can see what this island looks like."

"Great idea." Colt felt a growing sense of pride inside, almost euphoria. This was truly a happy moment for them, how could it not be? Soon, they would be able to go in and hopefully get their family members out without any problem. It would take a little bit of time, sure, but patience was always key.

* * *

Well, let me know what you're thinking? What's surprising to you? Let me know your thoughts, what are you thinking's about to go down.


	43. Never Alone

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 43 (Never Alone)

"So the scientists said she was brought here…" Jack led the group through the halls of an Argentina hospital, he had been surprised that Hilda was flown out to this location, but it did make sense in regards to location. The scientists had been terrified when they all showed up asking about her, so it was no trouble whatsoever to answer their question. Fortunately the hospital passed as a civilian clinic as well, so there were no Black Dragons waiting for them that they knew of. "What room did they say she was in?"

"This one," Milton replied, opening a door. Jack leaned back and peered inside. Much to his surprise, there she was, hooked up to a machine keeping her alive. He was thrilled to have finally located her, in which case, they could now tell both Mr. Truscott and Yvonne where she was. Though he thought they ought to send her to America, or Italy, whichever was preferable, though it seemed that America would be better considering where Oliver's family lived. "Well, this is her. Alive and well…"

He let out a soft hum and slowly moved towards a file left on the table beside her. Most doctors and nurses weren't supposed to leave patient files lying about for legal purposes, but that may only be a law in America, Jack didn't know. Either way, he carefully opened the file and started to read, shocked at what he saw. She was _indeed_ pregnant. "Guys…she's ten weeks along…" The others were stunned as well, and clamoring on about what to do. "The father's listed as Oliver Oken." Also in the notes on the file, it was required they perform two to three ultrasounds a day to ensure the baby was indeed getting the nutrients from the feeding tube, and was surviving. "I wonder when they can check the gender."

"Usually around the eighteenth week," Ciara answered. The woman moved up next to Hilda and peered down with a heavy heart. Jack watched as she lifted her hand and gently swept the blonde bangs from Hilda's face. "Hey, it's me…the woman that stabbed you. I wanted to say how sorry I am that I put you through that. I don't know if you can hear me, but…we're going to do everything possible to make sure you're okay, and that your baby will have a good life too. I can promise that."

"Seems like an awful lot to promise." He wasn't too sure just how well that kid would make it if his mother didn't survive. If she never woke from the coma, doctors would have to perform a C-section, or some other operation, to get the baby out when it was due. It seemed Oliver had a lot to live for, whether or not he knew it. "I wonder still if we can't at least convince Oliver to change his path…everyone has an option, right?"

"Typically."

"Do you think she realizes that she or Oliver are aware that Lilly is her sister?" The others shrugged their shoulders and Jack carefully walked closer to Hilda's bedside. He put his hand to her wrist and closed his eyes, he wasn't much of a believer in the whole psychic connection thing, but he did think it was possible to perhaps communicate to her somehow. He did get a feeling of deep sorrow from her, amidst a feeling of hope. He opened his eyes and moved his hand away. "She's holding onto something, I'm sure of that."

"Holding on to life most likely," Kim commented. "Hope too." He looked over at her as Kim knelt down beside her. "She knows how Oliver would have reacted to this, just like I knew you might go after Frank and the others when this happened to me. She's worried about him. It doesn't take anything special to tell that."

"It's a shame she'll never know her half sister. Now that we know where she is, we just need to contact the families. They'll want to see her." Behind the group, a loud shuffling noise was heard, just before the door lightly clicked shut. He moved his eyes towards the side and frowned. "We have company." All besides Kim started to turn and look. He didn't know why she wasn't getting up, but perhaps she was just trying to understand Hilda's situation. Which truly, it wasn't hard to do.

"Who are you?" Asked the man just entering. He was about the height of Rudy, Hispanic, and had dark hair released in a mix of curls to his chin. Jack could still hear the shuffling noises outside. Were they going to walk into an ambush? "Get away from her." He walked past them, but Jack kept a close eye on him. He wasn't sure whether or not to fight this man. Kim looked up at the man, then back to Hilda. She would have budged if she didn't think the man was a good person to be around Hilda, so maybe she felt he was okay. "You're that group from Antarctica aren't you. The ones that put Hilda in this state…"

"It was a mistake." The man raised an eyebrow as Jack folded his arms across his chest. He was still listening for the sounds of a possible ambush outside the room. "Ciara was trying to protect us, she didn't know anything…"

"So an accident?"

"Hilda fell on her blade. If we could have done that day differently, we would have. So now you know who we are…who are you?" The man closed his eyes and leaned his head back, sighing heavily. He leaned his head towards Jack and smiled slightly, bouncing his eyebrows.

"Ernesto Vasco. Oliver would be here today, but he's taking Dylan and Rin to their family. It's time." Jack's heart started to swell with pride. He lowered his arms and nodded at the man while the others behind him prepared to fight. Ernesto lifted a hand and exhaled slowly. "I won't fight right off the bat, so don't worry." It was a bit of a change, Una and Matata fought without asking questions. "I know why you are going around…you want to stop that plan. Taking out the celebrities and stuff, you'd like to put an end to that."

"Yeah, that's pretty much it."

"Not exactly something we want either, but Oliver hasn't been thinking about that plan for a while. He's mostly been fighting over whether or not to hate you guys for putting her in a coma." Jack bowed his gaze down for a second, shrugging his shoulders. He didn't blame him for hating them, but still there was no excuse for what had been done. "I have some things to tell you guys, and I'm sure you've got some stuff for us. I heard you say something about her family…"

"We did some investigating. Her mom still wants her back, and her birth father would like to see her." Ernesto's eyebrows rose high and he peered down at Hilda, humming lightly. Jack breathed in and closed his eyes. "Her mother is Yvonne Bodil, her mother is Ken Truscott." The man's head shot up and his eyes froze on the wall before him.

"Truscott?"

"Yeah…her sister was Lilly Truscott." Jack watched the man reach into his pocket, slowly pulling what appeared to be a tape recorder out. Ernesto shook his head and pushed it back in. "What's that?"

"It's Chogan confessing to having pulled the strings and so forth…Oliver's innocent of anything but his anger, which Chogan played off all these years. Even that whole plan to take out the celebrities…was a play on Oliver's emotions." Jack's jaw dropped and Ernesto started to turn fully towards him. "Chogan said some other things…things that Oliver doesn't know…like he and Matata were responsible for everything that went wrong in our pasts."

"Such as?"

"It's how Chogan and Matata knew where to send Oliver, to someone who was 'without' a family. They're both war chiefs, so obviously they know a thing or two about the human mind…"

He wasn't sure how to respond, hearing that Chogan and Matata might have done something to the captain's families. How was someone supposed to respond to that? "So what you're saying is…those two pulled someone at random, destroyed their families and their lives, all so they could have someone to be a part of their own mixed up family?"

"Something like that, yeah. I didn't know what to think of it either…" Ernesto put his hand to Hilda's wrist and peered down sadly. "Hilda's one of the only ones that those two didn't affect. Oliver just found her on the street, having attempted to kill herself. He wouldn't let her die…I don't think Chogan would have picked her if he knew…none of us knew she was Lilly's sister."

"Not even Oliver?"

"Not even him. He just told me a while ago, it was one of his Indians that did it, the mugging. He wanted that final kick to piss Oliver off so badly." Jack's eyes widened and Kim slowly rose to her feet. Ernesto narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists. "I'm worried about that history possibly repeating itself, so…I was thinking of sending her to another clinic."

"California!" Jerry exclaimed. Ernesto looked over to him and Jack raised an eyebrow. "Oliver's father and brother, they're there. If you can take her there, then she'll be with them, and maybe…maybe you can talk to Oliver about going back to them? You think Chogan would try to do something to Hilda?"

"I don't know. I don't want to think he would, but…it's getting hard to trust him, especially after Matata's death. I know Chogan had something to do with Rin's family, and I _think_ he's hiding her mother somewhere, to be honest. Knowing how hard Fan searches when she looks for someone, if the mother were out there, even if the mother were _dead_, Fan would have found her by now."

"Do you have any ideas where she might be?"

"Not sure, but if Chogan indeed is hiding her somewhere, then maybe that prison compound…the island where all those captives are. You know, Miley and Rudy are the only ones that Oliver ever put in there."

"Really?"

"Yeah, the others at that compound are people that pissed off Chogan and Matata."

Jack heard the shuffling noise once more and slowly turned is gaze to the door. The textured glass window had a suspicious looking shadow standing behind it. He started to say something about it, but before he could react, an arrow pierced through the glass. "Shit! Get down!" Everyone ducked as glass scattered about the room. Someone was making a gasping sound. Jack looked up and let out a violent shout. Ernesto was up against the wall, holding onto an arrow that was going through his chest. "Ernesto!"

"C-Can't breathe."

"Hold on!" Jack hopped up to his feet and looked over to the door, several Indians were filing into the room. They looked surprised to see the group there, waiting for them. Jack narrowed his eyes as the others moved into fight position. "Jerry, guard Ernesto. Ciara, stand by Hilda and cut down anyone that gets too close."

"You can get her out of here…" Jack looked back at Ernesto. He was pointing to a monitor on the desk. He gasped in between his words, fighting to form a simple sentence. "The wall behind her opens up into a hallway, mostly for emergencies. Send someone with her and have the doctors tell them what to do…where to send her, you already know."

Jack nodded and looked over to Milton, ordering him to do the job. Milton rushed over to the monitor and started to follow Ernesto's directions. The wall opened up and several nurses looked in with shock, Milton told them what was going on, and helped them lead Hilda out of the room.

Several Indians tried to rush for them, but Ciara jumped in the path and cut them down with her blade. "No one gets her!" Ciara demanded. She twirled her blade in the air and pointed it to the many Indians in the room. "Fight!"

Jack was surrounded by Indians with bows and arrows, a seemingly impossible situation. He looked back to see Ernesto sliding towards the ground, moaning in pain. Jerry stood before him, kicking into the Indians surrounding them. Ciara and Kim stood together, fighting off their group.

Eddie bolted towards him, distracting the Indians. "Eddie!" Several arrows flew into him, but he wasn't falling. Eddie smirked and cracked his neck.

"I'm the tank here," Eddie muttered. He reached forward, grabbing the wrist of the nearest Indian. The man hollered as Eddie pulled him towards him and slammed a fist into his sternum. "Can't beat me."

"Keep fighting." Jack put his hands to Eddie's shoulder and flipped over him, smirking as Eddie slammed his fist into the head of another. Jack landed behind the Indians and kicked back, smashing his heel into one of the men's spine. "I was afraid of an ambush, I just didn't see this coming." Several Indians turned around and started to surround him, all hopping on their heels and glaring at him. "Come on assholes…let's do this…" He lunged forward, kicking his foot out and striking one of the assailants. He twisted over, pushing his right foot down and spinning his left leg over, slamming another in the head. He continued this twisting and alternating motion while holding his palms against the ground.

This combination was stopped only when an arrow struck him in the left shoulder. He let out a loud shout and crashed to the floor. Jack looked up to see three Indians pointing their bows at him. Suddenly three arrows shot into his back. He clenched his teeth together as blood splashed out around him. He was a sitting duck! As he attempted to push himself up, three more arrows pelted him, striking his arms. The scent of his own blood struck his nostrils like a poison, the sound of his flesh tearing tormented his ears. "Fuck…let me get up…"

At least five Indians were on top of Eddie, pelting him with punches. Ciara was getting pushed back against the wall trying to deflect arrows and to slash at the Indians that kept hopping back to avoid her.

Jerry, thinking fast, looked from Ernesto to the Indian in front of him. He'd successfully knocked out three of them. He saw the danger his friends were in, and rushed forward, taking an arrow to his left arm. He clenched his teeth and removed the arrow, twisted it around in his fingers, and pushed it forward into the shooter's neck. "I'll take this…" He grabbed the bow and arrows from the man. He stepped over the body and narrowed his eyes as he lifted the bow and aimed for the shooters on Jack.

He hadn't fired an arrow before, but he needed to trust his aim. Jack needed help here, and the others couldn't get to him. He attached one arrow to the rope and started to pull back, wincing as the pain in his arms fought against him. "Can't let loose." He released the rope, sending one of the arrows into the head of the middle archer. His eyes widened as the man crumpled to the ground. A nervous chuckle left his lips. "Wow! I did it…" The two remaining shooters turned to him and glared aggressively at him. "Uh oh."

Just as they raised their bows to him, he grabbed an arrow of his own. They fired, he ducked down and rolled towards the right. He rose up on one knee and fired off a shot into the sternum of the archer on the left. The archer yelped and Jerry followed up with another shot into the same archer's left chest.

The remaining archer shot an arrow at him, shooting him in the right chest. He felt the pain ripping through muscle and tissue, but he was sure it didn't strike any major organs. He sucked in a deep breath and slowly exhaled. "Good, you didn't puncture my lung, but _damn!_" He reached for another arrow and groaned, he was all out of arrows!

He swallowed hard and slowly put his hand to the arrow in his chest. He tightened his muscles and started to let out a long yell as he tore the arrow from his chest. "Stay away from Jack, I won't let you hurt my friends…" The determination and adrenaline helped him to pull the arrow from his chest. He met Jack's concerned gaze and quickly rushed forward. The archer yelped as Jerry grasped his throat and quickly stabbed him many times with the arrow. "Die!" Blood gushed from the archer and soon he fell towards the ground. Jerry panted heavily and reached down, helping Jack up to his feet.

"Thanks Jerry," Jack said while holding his arm over his stomach. He was hunched over and covered in blood. "We're going to need doctors after this."

"Damn good thing we're in a hospital."

"Yeah…" Jerry watched as Ciara stabbed through the neck of the last Indian near her. Kim flipped over through the air and extended her foot, slamming her heel into the left temple of another. A loud scream echoed in the room, and Eddie pushed the Indians pelting him with blows off. Ciara and Kim were not as badly injured, but it was an impossible situation going up against a sword without any weapons. The archers at least got Ciara once, but no one got Kim.

"The benefit of sticking with my cousin, amazing." Kim flipped her hair over her shoulder and rushed for Jack. "Are you okay, Jack?"

"I'm fine," he replied. "Going to need a doctor, but at least we're in a clinic." Jack looked over at Ernesto and pointed his thumb. "Him too." The group moved over towards Ernesto, all limping besides the women. Ernesto slowly looked up and shook his head.

"I won't make it…I'm sorry…"

Jerry knelt before him, looking into his fading eyes. "Just stay calm. It'll be okay." He looked towards the others, Jack had taken to sitting up against the side wall with Eddie. Kim was beside Jack. He took a deep breath and flicked his gaze to Ciara. "Ciara, go grab a doctor, please."

"On it," she replied.

"Thank you." He returned his gaze to Ernesto. While he'd been fighting off the Indians beside Ernesto, he had time to learn something more in regards to him. Ernesto was afraid of dying alone, afraid of dying without his family. Jerry had been curious about his name, though. "You know…my mother died back in 2008, I don't know much about her, but I know she had a sister somewhere." Ernesto looked at him with arched brows, and a crooked smile. "You were saying something about dying without family…now I know mom's sister married someone named Vasco, but that's all I know. Mom moved to America while her sister remained in another country, but…what was your mother's name?"

"Estella…Estella Genoveva." Jerry slowly inhaled and bowed his head, chuckling at the name. His mom's maiden name was Genoveva, he remembered that much about her. Tears welled up in his eyes, and he slowly sat beside Ernesto. Always he considered himself a lone wolf, but lately he'd begin seeing himself as a part of a _team_. Now even within his family, he wasn't alone, and neither was Ernesto. "Why?"

"I guess…you and I have big families. A couple lone wolves with family we never see…most of my relatives are in Chicago, and yours-"

"Are all dead."

"Maybe not. Your mom had a sister, and the woman had a family." Ernesto scoffed and started to close his eyes. "Ever think about them?"

"Even still, they're all over the world, assuming you're correct." Jerry smiled and leaned his head against the wall, closing his eyes and relaxing his body. "Be nice to see them, but since I'm dying…"

"Would you die happy, knowing where your family was?"

"I guess…" Ernesto slowly removed the tape recorder from his pocket and set it on Jerry's knee. "Take this. Give it to Oliver." Ernesto gasped for air once more and groaned. Tears welled up in his eyes and he cursed Jerry. "You got me thinking of my family…why…"

"Because those that aren't alive any longer, you'll see again. As for your Aunt, you'll see her too. Then you have me…" Ernesto raised an eyebrow as Jerry met his wavering gaze. "My mother was Nita Genoveva, she moved to America with several of her siblings, and that's where she met my father, Hector Martinez. We're cousins, Ernesto. Took me a little bit to put two and two together, but that's the way it is…"

"Amazing." Ernesto chuckled softly and closed his eyes. "I never thought I'd see that day." Jerry let his tear drop from his face as Ernesto took one last breath. "It doesn't hurt so much anymore..." He looked over to Ernesto, feeling a growing sense of sorrow and joy mixed together. The man's body went limp, and he thought for a moment that he could feel Ernesto's soul brushing past him. He wouldn't have to feel so alone anymore, so he was happy for him.

"Decansa en paz, mi primo."

* * *

What an intense chapter, wouldn't you agree? Everyone's in pretty bad shape, and Ernesto's gone. What do you think of the ambush? You think Chogan was behind it? What surprised you here?


	44. All Hope Lost

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 44 (Hope Lost)

Oliver tapped his foot on the ground, impatiently waiting for Chogan to get off the phone. He was currently in one of Chogan's American mansions located in New York. The man had the machine to activate the devices in his home, but Oliver wasn't too sure if he was ready to touch it. His gaze locked on the object before him, he was all the way in the top room of the mansion as Chogan wanted him to be. The center item in the room was the triangular machine peaking up from the floor like a stalagmite. In the center of this machine was a button that would trigger all those devices, sending all the celebrities to their deaths.

Miley was one of the only ones that had never been pricked by those devices. His desire for revenge had been nonexistent in these years, and quite frankly, Chogan didn't think it was a good idea to release her after all these years. He had to blame his current mindset on his growing feelings for Hilda. "I don't know if I want to touch you," he muttered to the machine. "Chogan wants the massacre, he wants the Black Dragons to be feared…the singers and the actors, they have no…I don't know. Jackson said they're still _innocents_."

"Who?" He jerked and twisted around to face Chogan, standing in the doorway. Chogan carefully moved in and thinned his lips. "Actors and singers? They're not important, they sold their souls to join their prospective careers. You know that." Oliver rolled his eyes and looked towards the right. He wasn't so sure anymore. Miley had a soul, didn't she? "I can see why you'd want to get away from this, with your feelings for Hilda, Dylan, Rin, and Ernesto…all of them. I know family can sort of overwrite some of those things."

"Yeah, but I don't know that I ever wanted this as much as you." He bowed his head and slowly pushed his hands into his pockets. His heart was beating rapidly, causing intense pain inside his chest. "They said they found twins in her womb. Hilda's pregnant with twins, Chogan…maybe I want to be their father. I can't raise them if I lead some sort of criminal organization." He shifted nervously and moved his hand to the back of his neck. "I've been thinking a lot about Dad and Lance…"

"They're gone now."

"I know, you've mentioned that. I blame myself for that, I guess. Same for Robby Ray…how could I not blame myself?" His heart broke when he remembered their loss, though he never personally _saw_ them die. Chogan told him of their death. "I miss them, Chogan. I really do. The family I have now is slowly leaving as well, but fortunately Rin and Dylan are safe." Chogan smiled and quickly nodded his head.

"That is fortunate. I never knew Dylan's father had been alive, so I'm glad to hear it. Rin's grandparents as well, it's a plus." Oliver lifted his head graciously and smoothed his hair back. When he saw Chogan's face fall, he immediately started to feel a deep sorrow growing inside, like something was wrong. "Oliver, I have some bad news. My men heard a disturbance at the hospital yesterday and went to investigate…Hilda's gone and Ernesto is…dead."

His body grew cold and his eyes widened with fear. All he heard was that Hilda was gone and Ernesto was dead, he heard nothing else. "Y-You can't be…no, that's not possible. That didn't happen!" Chogan rested his hand on Oliver's shoulder. Oliver shook his head and slowly fell to his knees.

"I'm sorry…" He didn't want to believe his best friend was _gone_. Not after all these years and all those memories. Then Hilda, where could she be? He bowed his head and started to weep angry tears. "They said that group was there. Jack and his crew." A pang struck his heart and his eyes clenched shut. He grit his teeth and struggled to hold back an angry roar. Now he was truly losing everything. "Oliver, we've waited long enough…it's time."

He wasn't in the mindset to make a good decision now, he couldn't judge whether or not this was a good idea. "Not _now_, I…I need to think!" He started to curl up, visualizing all those close to him fading away into nothing. He was alone now. "God, Chogan please…please be lying…" Chogan's lips dipped further and his shoulders rose. Why would Chogan lie to him anyway? "How could you expect me to make a decision right now? Especially one I don't even _want_!" He felt like throwing up, like he was going to die. He wanted to die, no question about it. "I'm not ready…"

"There's no more time. It's for Ernesto, for Hilda…the world has to fear the Black Dragons." Oliver's breath caught in his throat as he slowly pushed himself up, groaning painfully. "I'm sorry it's come to this, maybe if we'd done this before something happened to them…but we can't wait any longer. What if we wait any longer and Fan dies?"

"...I just need some rest." He rubbed his face and slowly left the room. As long as he got some rest, he could have some time to think. He didn't want to activate the devices at all, but it wouldn't matter what he said. Chogan still had more influence, so he might do it regardless.

He moved to a bedroom and climbed into a bed. Nothing could describe the anger, the hatred that ran though him right now. What happened that Ernesto had to die? What the hell was the problem? He didn't need to die, he could have lived! "I suppose I should have expected it to be inevitable…" He never felt so pathetic in his life. With nothing left to live for, he didn't know any longer what there was to fight for. "No more hope."

Chogan moved sadly around the center machine, he knew his lies had gone on far too long, but there was no way to go back now. If Oliver knew he'd betrayed him all these years, it probably wouldn't end well. "What's going to happen after activation?" He muttered beneath his breath. He shook his head and ran his finger and thumb along his forehead, groaning softly. Where had he gone so wrong? The only reason he focused on celebrities was because it was easy for him to do, but no longer did he want to focus all his energy on making Oliver the blame for this device. The kid needed to be cut a break.

He chuckled vainly and stepped in front of the button to activate the devices. Once pressed, he'd have to speak a code that would turn everything on. When they were activated, television sets everywhere would turn on, and a satellite would focus on him, feeding his voice and image to all television networks and stations. In a world of technology, this meant he'd even appear on cell phones and any device with video technology, so all eyes would be on _him._

"Of course, I'll take the fall. It was my plan…" Over years, he'd come to see Oliver as a son. He didn't _want_ to tell him that his father and brother were still alive, but only because he didn't want to lose him. "That trust would be broken anyway. No matter." Chogan stepped forward and hovered his hand over the red button on the machine, breathing in deeply. "Here goes nothing…" His fingers pressed down on the button and the monitor started to flash, signaling for him to speak the activation code.

He leaned forward, speaking softly into the microphone. "Black Dragons: We are family." He clenched his eyes shut as the round orb on the top of the machine started to glow bright red. It was time, all devices would turn on and the celebrities would be hypnotized. He tapped his fingertips on the steel surface, waiting for several minutes until the monitor flashed once more.

_All devices are activated. Parasites taking over, hypnotism begins in ten…_

He closed his eyes and started counting down with the clock. Thinking to himself, he moved over to the door and locked it so Oliver wouldn't stumble in if he decided to see what was going on.

_ Two…one…subjects hypnotized, give orders now_

He moved back and spoke into the microphone while gazing at the monitor. Millions of tiny red dots were scattered across the global map, signaling that everything was going without a hitch. Finally. "Celebrities, your first order is to find a life jacket, you will be going for a long swim. When you have taken a lifejacket, put it on, and walk to these coordinates…you will climb a volcano and throw yourselves in." He gave the coordinates, addressing which parts of the world would go to whichever volcano. When complete, he started to connect himself to the satellites and stations. This was the _long_ part, the waiting.

_Satellite uplinks connected. CNN…NBC…FOX…ABC...TMC…_

He rolled his eyes and leaned forward against the machine, glaring at the monitor. There were hundreds of networks to go through, he really did _not_ want to have to wait for the machine to list them all. "Hurry the fuck up and let's get this over with." The machine took such a long time to list all the networks, he wasn't exactly sure how long he'd been standing there, nearly falling asleep. The machine buzzed, startling him awake.

_You are now on air on every network across the globe._

He cleared his throat, ignoring the computerized voice. Chogan narrowed his eyes and looked directly at the camera above the monitor. "Hello, I am Chogan Matchitchew, leader of the Black Dragon organization." His nostrils flared out and he breathed in slowly. This was Oliver's free pass, the man didn't need trouble. After this process was over, he would send Oliver on his way home to his _real_ family. "I am _Double O_, my alias doubles as Otaktay Ohcumgache." Otaktay was Indian for 'kills many' and Ohcumgache meant 'little wolf'. "As you will notice without a doubt, in the next few seconds, many of your famous and beloved celebrities will be walking trancelike across the globe. They will swim across the oceans, they will climb a volcano, and they will perish. There is nothing you can do to wake them, and there is _nothing_ you can do to stop the _wrath_ of the Black Dragons." He threw in an evil chuckle for emphasis as his lethal gaze narrowed further. "Give us control, access to this world and all of its secrets, follow us, and _maybe_ we will release your beloved celebrities from our grasp. Until we speak again, I bid you adieu…"

He flipped off the monitor and took a deep breath. A loud banging was heard at the door, Oliver was screaming for him to open up. "What are you doing?! Why did you activate them? Chogan! Open up!"

"It's too late, Oliver." He couldn't leave the room, he had to stay in there in case something went wrong. "There's nothing to be done now…" They couldn't risk turning off the machine. Not now. "Go contact Fan…I need to stay in here."

"Chogan?"

"I'm sorry Oliver. That's final…" Chogan casually walked to the window, peering down at the streets below. Soon, very soon, those streets would be crowded with celebrities that had only one mission in mind. The nightmare had begun. "No turning back now."

* * *

The machines have been activated! What are your thoughts on this chapter? Anything surprise you, anything interesting? Let me know.


	45. March of Death

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 45 (March of Death)

Jack eyed the television screen with wide eyes, wincing as he attempted to sit up. Kim was seated beside him, cursing loudly, frustrated that they could do nothing. Right now, they were stuck to the clinic hospital beds, ordered to stay there for a few days. Kim saw him trying to move and put her hand to his shoulder. He met her frustrated, yet concerned gaze with a sigh as she ordered him to stay put. "You can't leave the bed, doctor's orders…"

"I know that. I'm pissed, they activated those disks!" He'd been far too wounded during the fight with those Indians, and now if he tried to get active, his stitches would tear open. This was the _last_ predicament he wanted to be in. "All those people! All those lives!" Eddie and Jerry were in the room with them, both silently gazing from their beds. Jerry was to the right and Eddie to the left. Ciara was growling ferociously at the television, but even she knew nothing could be done. "We _need _to figure out where and how to turn those things off."

Jerry's head fell back onto his pillow as a groan left his lips. "Didn't Milton and Davenport say some remote machine had to activate them? If that's the case, the same machine should deactivate them." Eddie agreed while Jack kept his eyes glued to the news. There was a feeling deep in his gut, it twisted his organs and mocked him. "We just need to find out where that machine is, and fast, but isn't that the problem? We've been trying and trying to figure out where the hell it's located, but we haven't found anything worth a damn."

"Whatever the case, we can't give up." Hopelessly he watched the reporter's camera on the actors and singers walking by. Several people, relatives and fans clung to these people, trying to stop them. Children sobbed and cried out for their mothers and fathers, brothers and fans were thrown and punched away by the ones in the trance. _Nothing_ was stopping their walk of death. Jack closed his fingers up and struggled to sit up once more. He let out a painful yell as his wounds began quivering along his sides and his back. "I need to get up!" Kim gently pushed him back down and Ciara snapped an angry hand towards him.

"Stay there, damn it!" He moved his eyes towards her as she focused with intensity. "It won't do you, or those people, any good risking yourself. Right now, we're all incapacitated. _We_ can't do anything, but maybe Milton can. Remember, he's not here, he's flown to America with Hilda. _Plus_, Serena arrested a few of those Zulu Warriors that attacked the family. It might be possible that one of those people know where to find the machine. It's worth a shot to look into…and right now…the only option we have until you three can get out of the hospital."

He grumbled and mentally cursed himself. There was no sense in arguing, she was right. Jack looked back to the screen, feeling hopeless as he watched the fans and families try and try in vain to awaken their loved ones. He saw many stars that he always enjoyed. To name a few, he could clearly see Mel Gibson, Bruce Willis, Hilary Duff, Nickelback, Simon Cowel, the stars of Glee, and millions of others. As much as he _hated_ Glee, as much as he didn't like the actors of the show, this fate was something that he would never wish upon them.

These were the people they'd have to save.

In California where Hilda was, Milton paced the hospital room. Not only was he seeing the devastation on the news, he only had to look outside the window and he could see actors and singers walking in a long line with orange, red, and yellow lifejackets. He needed a way to stop this, but even Davenport had been unable to find an antidote. "I'm late, I'm too late." He scratched his head and cursed mentally.

Not only was it in bad timing, but Milton had already contacted Yvonne and Kenneth. Both of them were now on their way over, Yvonne had flown over yesterday from her country. The two would likely wind up coming at the same time, so he was unable to do anything but wait for them to arrive and see Hilda.

He looked out the window and felt his heart crash down, Jennifer Lopez and Katy Perry were walking side by side with Beyonce and Rhianna a few people behind them. He was a fan of all four singers! "Well, I'm not sure I'd admit to liking Beyoncé…" Milton rubbed his forehead, groaning as his temples pounded. After a few minutes, he remembered that Bobby had been pricked as well! "Shit! Mr. Wasabi!" He whipped his phone from his pocket and dialed Julie, she would have to tell him what was going on. She answered with a desperate tone in her voice, frantically screaming into the phone. "Julie relax! I need you to tell me how affected Bobby is."

After all, he basically took apart the device that Bobby had. Julie took a few calming breaths and spoke as slowly as possible. "He's in a trance, but not so good."

"What do you mean?"

"Unlike all these celebrities, he doesn't seem to have a sense of direction. He's walked directly through several walls, and isn't actually putting up a resistance when I try to moved him. I guided him into his safe room, he hasn't done anything." Milton furrowed his brow and rubbed the back of his neck. What did this mean, exactly? Bobby's safe room was basically a completely steel room, but he wouldn't be trapped in there if he was under full hypnosis. Not only would he be able to open doors and comprehend direction, but he should be pushing Julie away whenever she touched him. "What's going on with him, Milton? Why is he acting differently?"

"I think it's because we messed with his device. I broke it apart and started fiddling with it. Hold on!" He ran to his backpack in the corner and reached in, slowly removing the device Bobby had. He studied it in his hands and narrowed his eyes at the LED light, it was glowing bright. "I never cut off the wires, but if I cut it while he's under hypnosis…"

"Wires? As in plural?"

"Yeah, there's your blue wire and your red wire." He set the device on the end table beside the chair next to Hilda's bedside. "You said Bobby's still in that room?" She acknowledged positively and he jumped at the sound of a scream from outside. He turned towards the window and groaned. There went Izzy, along with Ricky, and Izzy had just struck a fan with a guitar in his hands.

"What's going on over there, Milt?"

"The celebs. A fan tried to wake Izzy, and he still has his guitar. Do the math. Anyway…back to these wires." Rubbing his chin, he thought of Davenport. Likely he wouldn't be able to snip the wires without advice from this man. What would happen if he cut the _wrong_ wire during hypnosis? "Okay Bobby's just about to become an experiment, but I really don't like the feeling of playing with his life here, so I need to contact a friend of mine. Do you mind me putting you on conference call?"

"Go for it." He moved his phone back and while still on the line with Julie, dialed up Davenport's number. When the man answered, he joined the two calls and brought the phone back to his ear only to hear Davenport already going on about the activations. After he stopped, Milton asked him about the wires. Julie didn't seem comfortable with the idea, and Davenport had to pause. "What do you think of Milton's idea?"

"I don't care for it," Davenport replied. "It's risky." Milton frowned and Julie sighed heavily. "Let me explain something to you, whichever wire you cut…one means death and the other can still mean brain damage. The _safest_ way to save your friend and these celebrities is to deactivate hypnosis from the machine that activated these damn things, not to short out the wires."

"What do you mean Brain Damage?" Milton asked as he shifted his eyes towards the passing celebrities. "God there's a ton of them."

"Listen, the powder that's injected flows through the bloodstream and attaches itself to the brain like a parasite. It attaches at the rostrum of the brain, but proceeds to liquefy itself and cover the entire brain like a cloak…a _glaze_, if you will." Milton imagined the process with terror, an unimaginable horror. Would this powder glaze affect the brain so deeply after hypnosis? "The parasite is _harmless_, _unless_ under hypnosis. What this means is outside hypnosis, once deactivated, the powder will remain on the brain, but the person with this powder will remain completely normal and go about life as if it were not attached to his or her brain. That is why, once you _do_ find that machine and deactivate the hypnosis, you must destroy the machine so no indigent decides to turn it on again."

"Makes sense…" So it was clear, he was to leave the device alone. He didn't want to wind up killing Bobby or causing him brain damage, he'd never live it down!

"Some of the powder also attaches itself to other organs, such as the muscle, to control hunger and strength."

Milton rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. _Perfect_, just _perfect_. "So I guess…we just wait?"

"That's the best option. Find the machine first."

"Yeah. Julie, can you keep watch over him? Make sure he _stays_ in that room?"

"I can."

"Great." Fortunately they still had the number for the pilot of the private jet, and the man was in Argentina of course. Milton had flown over with the doctors when they airlifted Hilda. "Mr. Davenport, how's your family, by the way?" The man groaned sorely and Milton frowned.

"Minimal progress, I'm starting to think they'll never wake up."

"Don't lost hope yet, you still have your son with you."

"Right…Chase is all I have now. I'll try not to lose hope with the rest of my family…Thank you for your concern Milton, call me if you need advice on anything else."

"Will do. Goodbye sir."

"Goodbye Milton." After hanging up, Milton ran his hands over his face and clapped them together once. He looked over to Hilda and clicked his tongue. Still in her coma, and with the possible celebrity deaths, the frustration inside of him was growing out of control.

"I don't suppose you could tell me where to find this machine."

In Prairie, Serena tapped her thumb on her steering wheel and glared out as many celebrities walked through the streets. "Figures. One year we have a mob of criminals running the streets, and now a mob of famous people." She honked her horn, hoping it would drive some of the celebrities to actually get out of the way so she could pass. "Come on people, I need to get to work!" How many singers had concerts around this area, honestly? She was astonished, never did she think she'd see this many famous people all in once, and she never thought she'd want to see all of them out of her way! "Move it!" She slammed her hand on the horn once more, then fell back with a loud groan as the celebrities ignored her once more.

She'd just gotten off the phone with Ciara, requesting that she try to ask some of the Zulu prisoners if they would know where the machine was. There was a little chance they might know, but like Ciara, Serena speculated that they might be too smalltime to know anything about it. If she could get past the train of celebrities, she'd definitely give it a shot. She slammed her hand on the horn again, cussing out the celebrities in front of her. "Get out of the way, for the love of god!" She was half tempted to run them over! "That's it, I'll just back up and go another way…" She shifted her gear in reverse and looked back in time, but much to her dismay, there was a train of celebrities _behind_ her. "Are you freaking kidding me?" She moaned and dropped her forehead onto the steering wheel. "It's a small town…I'll just walk! Jeez…"

Eventually she made it to the station, the celebrities had cleared up in that part of town. When inside, she walked past the smirking secretary and into the holding cells where three Zulu Warriors were sitting without their weapons or shields. "Okay, I'm not in a good mood, and I need answers." The men looked up as she wrapped a firm hand around one of the bars, narrowing her eyes. "I might consider convincing the judge to lessen your sentence if you cooperate."

"What do you need?" Asked the middle, bald headed warrior.

"The location of that machine used to turn on those devices. I just had to wait fifteen goddamn minutes for a train of famous asses to get out of my way! Now how do we deactivate their hypnosis?!" The men seemed genuinely confused and exchanged uncertain gazes.

"I am not certain. That sort of thing, Mr. Tapiwa never told us." She grew disheartened and slid her hand down the bar.

"You're being serious? You really have no clue?"

"It's too much for us to know. The leaders would never tell us something so crucial and important, it just isn't something that they trust us with."

"Son of a…" Serena turned around and swept her hand across her forehead. What was she supposed to tell Ciara, then? "Okay, I need to think."

She moved out of the area and walked to the break room where she pulled a water bottle from the fridge. Three officers were sitting around the table, watching the daily news. She took a swig of her water and looked up at the screen, frowning as she watched the train of singers and actors marching to an uncertain future.

No one was cold hearted enough to want these people to die. No longer were they celebrities, no, they were now innocent people on their way to death, and nobody could stop it. "Shit…" Hopefully these celebrities could be saved, but a sense of dread and hopelessness seemed to overpower her emotions. This was a persistent and consistent feeling among everyone in the world. "There has to be a way to save them, to stop their march."

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Devastation abounds, what are your thoughts on this matter? Situation appears pretty dire now, as nothing can wake them. What caught your eyes?


	46. Rescue Mission!

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

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Chapter 46 (Rescue Mission)

Colt peered out the window of their sleek black helicopter, narrowing his eyes as they moved across the ocean. There was a train of celebrities swimming along towards uncertain coordinates. He didn't know what to do to help them, but they were not today's mission focus. "God this is distressing." He looked over to Luanne and Maxine, Earl was flying a secondary helicopter in case they got shot down in theirs and needed a swift rescue. Both were war choppers with rockets and machine guns. Maxine was flying this helicopter, Luanne would serve as a copilot.

"You can say that again," Luanne remarked. "You don't think Miley's a part of it?" He hoped not, if she was, then they were screwed. He didn't want to think that she might be dead either, even though it had been so many years. "Anyway, we're over the island." They were going to perform a rescue, with him on foot and them still on air. They were flying high enough to prevent noise disturbances, as nothing said _mission failed_ quite like landing in the middle of a bunch of guns pointed at your face. "Get ready to jump, Dad!"

"All right." He grabbed his black pack and walked towards the open door. He looked back at the helicopter and frowned, it only had enough for two extra people. They might have to board only Rudy and Miley. If there were other people at the compound, they'd have to requisition the CIA to make return trips with them. "Let's do this." He adjusted the radio in his ear and peered down at the land, surprised that it wasn't completely icy like the Bouvet Island had been. He gave Luanne a thumbs up and jumped off.

Clenching his teeth, he reached for the rip cord and yanked it, grunting as the parachute expanded and jerked him up. He aimed his feet towards the ground and looked off to the right, where the edge of the island met the rocky waters. They chose the drop site perfectly, away from where there might be guards wandering the island, but not so far that he'd be landing in the drink. His eyes drifted up as Earl's green chopper separated and began to circle the perimeter. He put his fingers to the earpiece and cleared his throat. "Earl, where in God's name are you running off to?" Earl's response came not a second later.

"I'm trying to see below, scanning the perimeter for the best route and the number of enemies to spy." A good choice, nothing was wrong with that idea. "There's a compound in the center of the island, I do see people inside some kind of fence. I think that's the location you need to start making your way towards."

"All right. Stay high in the sky, don't let yourself be spotted. Luanne, use the scope to get a view of the island so you and Maxine can remain out of sight. We don't want them knowing what's going on."

"Roger that, Dad! All right Grandma, pull her up some!"

Colt hummed and clenched his teeth as his feet collided with the ground. He yanked off the parachute straps and rolled with his black bag into one of the bushes. He put the backpack on his back and started to bring out a sub machine gun, the Koch MP5/10, a CIA standard machine gun. He also had the Heckler with him, as well as a Glock 23 at his hip. He put the Koch to his back, wrapping the strap around his shoulder, and pulled the Heckler from the bag, smirking with pride. "Hello baby, we meet again." He also wrapped his M-4 to his back, knowing he'd have to use it if it came to worse.

"Dad, stop making love to your guns and get busy!" He rolled his eyes and started to peer out of the bush. He grabbed the binoculars around his neck and brought them towards his eyes, whistling softly as he scanned the area.

"Approximately how far are we?"

"I got an answer to that," Earl replied. "From the drop off point to the building, you have about four miles of a straight path. Permission to attract attention to the opposite side of the island." He tilted his head to the right, squinting his eyes in thought. If Earl started to open fire on the east side of the island, then guards would flock towards that direction. It could potentially clear up the west side, where they were at. He nodded his head and lowered his binoculars, having seen nothing but trees and brush.

"Permission granted." He heard Earl let out a loud cheer, followed up by explosions in the distance. Earl had chosen to use the rockets, apparently. Colt heard a commotion to his right and looked over with his binoculars. Several yards away there were three guards running in the direction of the explosion. "Okay Earl, you've attracted attention. Not bad…" Earl cheered again, raining his side of the island with machinegun pellets. "Try not to take all our fun now, Earl." He laughed once and ducked down in the brush. Earl scoffed and Maxine chuckled from her end.

"By the way brother, be careful, I struck the ground and some kind of trap shot up. It snagged a couple guards. This island might be littered with traps."

"Shit…thanks for the heads up."

"No problem!"

"Dad, you have someone coming up behind you," Luanne exclaimed. He cussed and turned around to see people climbing the Cliffside.

"Fucking cliff dwellers! Shake them off!" He rolled from his hiding spot, narrowly avoiding gunfire. His heart began to race as he charged into a run.

"Got it." Above him, he saw Maxine turning the chopper in his direction, aiming behind him. She clicked the button, firing off a rocket. He cussed and jumped over a wooden log, bending forward and putting his hands over his head. He landed on one foot and a knee, ducking beneath the large log just as an explosion rattled the side of the cliff. Bodies and debris flew in every direction. He opened one eye and saw a man groaning before him. The man started to aim a pistol his way, to which Colt fired a bullet from the Heckler. "All clear, Dad!"

"Thanks, now take her up a bit more. Don't let them see you!" He saw Luann motion to Maxine. The helicopter's nose shifted up and the helicopter started fading from view. "Okay great. Now if you can spot any guards nearby, _shoot them! _Fill this island with a few craters if you have to. These people can't possibly expect an attack, much less be prepared…they were shooting at me with pistols and small time machine guns."

It was possible that the island hadn't experienced an attack in the entirety of its lifetime, being so remote and uncharted, so the guards might be overconfident and cocky. Of course, for them, cockiness would be just as bad as underestimating these guards.

He took a deep breath, allowing himself to pant and rest as Maxine and Luann flew about the area. They fired off their shots, and Colt waited for them to give the all clear. He swayed his head from side to side, groaning as his head began to pound. "I am getting far too old for this…Earl, how are things on your end?" It was hard to ignore the explosions, gunfire, and screams that echoed the skies.

"The East is clear, I'm taking out the North right now." Not a bad idea, but just a tad unnecessary. As he thought on it, he did picture the North and South guards closing in on them, so maybe it was a good idea for Earl to take them out now.

"Right, that should help prevent them from trying to show up unannounced." He looked up into the skies and frowned. "Still waiting for the all clear, Luann!"

"You're clear, Dad, go on! We're watching you and everything around you."

"Excellent." It was only a matter of time now, and a straight shot. Even with his binoculars, he could see a small speck that was the prison compound. Sweat drenched him as he rose up and cracked his neck from side to side. "Here we go, team. No stopping now."

In the compound, all the prisoners were starting to huddle towards the back corner. Rudy, Amanda, and Miley stood in the center of the recess area, looking up at the smoke filled sky. "What's going on, brother?" Miley asked with a whimper. She wrapped her arms around his arm. He wanted to have an answer for her, but he didn't know. It sounded like a warzone, and he hated to admit he was scared to _leave_ the compound.

"Just remain here, where it's safe." He looked from her to Amanda. Amanda had been grossly sick lately, and had just been throwing up in her room when these explosions began rattling the ground. It honestly felt like an earthquake. "Whatever's going on outside…hopefully it stays outside."

The roaring noise of helicopter blades started to close in. Rudy's eyes widened and he spread his arms around the two women, ducking down with them. He was praying very hard that the Black Dragons hadn't just gone insane. He lifted his head to the sky and cursed as a green chopper fired off two rockets into the gun towers outside. "They blew out the choppers!"

"This is _not_ helping things!" Amanda screamed out. "I'm getting sick again…shit." Rudy stared at her with a growing concern. Above them, the green chopper began circling the compound, as though it were guarding them. It stopped several feet above them and would occasionally turn and open fire in a random direction. "Who are they shooting at? The guards?"

"Maybe…I don't know why." The helicopter looked like an _Annihilator_, but slightly resembled a Black Hawk. Unfortunately he couldn't detect what type, as he had never truly been a chopper expert. "It might be best to get everyone inside the building. I'm honestly not sure what the best option is…they're not shooting at us." In truth, these helicopters had stopped them while they were in the middle of their martial arts training. "Miley, has anything like this happened before?"

"No! Never!" She responded.

"I see…" His heart dropped as he eyed the chopper. He was trying to see the pilot, but he couldn't get a clear enough shot. From what he did see of the pilot was a large body and a grey goatee, but that was it. "I think an old man is driving the chopper."

"There's another one!" He turned around and followed where Miley was pointing. In the distance, high into the sky, he could see a black chopper flying about the island. His gut dropped and he began to imagine the unthinkable. A literal helicopter war. "Tell me they're not…"

"Everyone inside!" He ordered, screaming out in an attempt to echo above the deathly roar. The others all looked to him, worry filled their eyes. He motioned with his arm, swinging towards the building. "Now! Get in! Go, go, go! There's more than one helicopter on the island!" They nodded and started rushing into the building. Rudy growled at the helicopter above them while pushing Miley and Amanda towards the entrance. "Jesus…whoever's up there…"

"They're going to sink the island, Brother."

"I don't think so."

"Then what are they doing?"

"I have no idea, but we'll be safe in here…"

Outside, Colt made his way ever closer to the compound. He ducked behind a tree, holding the heckler to his chest. The building was several yards away from him, but there were four guards pacing the ground just a few feet away. Sweat poured down his arms and neck, his hair clung to his forehead and ears, and his chest heaved. "Again, I'm getting too fucking old for this. Earl, did you get those gun towers?"

"Yeah bro. I think I may have spooked the prisoners though, they ran inside the building."

"That's fine. They'll be safe there. Anyhow…" He narrowed his eyes on the ground between him and the four guards. There appeared to be several rope triggers across the floor, but neatly hidden within the dirt. As he gazed up, he saw a spike trap hidden among the treetops. "I see what you're planning…"

Colt laughed and stepped into view, shooting up in the air. He smirked as the guards acknowledged him, shouting and pointing. They let out a loud yell and started running for him. He closed one eye and popped his jaw, slamming his gun down and firing into the rope traps. The guards yelped and fell onto the ropes, then screamed as metal spikes attached to a steel platform fell on top of them. He winced and curled his lips together. "Oh yeah, that looked painful." He jumped on top of the platform and looked down, wincing once more at the blood seeping from beneath. "I can't believe all four of these guards were that stupid!"

He'd met a few guards and _had_ been hit once or twice, but it was nothing serious. "Hey Bobby, you aren't having _too much_ fun down there, are you?"

"Well hell, I can't help myself. It's been a long time since I've been on a mission this serious!" The others laughed as he stepped off the steel platform and ducked behind another nearby tree. Maxine and Luann closed in while he used his binoculars to glance about. When he didn't see anyone, he charged forward to the building. "You don't know what you're missing with this field work, I'm telling you!"

"I think I'll hold off on ground work for a while," Earl snickered.

"Have to agree with Uncle Earl," Luanne shockingly remarked. She usually enjoyed field work! "As boring as it is up here, I think I'd rather be up here than down there right about now."

"You're both darn chickens!" Earl and Luanne laughed, but Maxine scolded them and urged him to continue on to the compound. He scoffed and hurried off, finally reaching the compound. He pressed his back to the wall and started looking from left to right. "Lion to Eagle, Lion to Eagle, am I clear?"

"Really? We're doing code names now?"

"Thought I'd give it a personal touch."

"Yeah…you're clear. Go to your left."

Colt bent his knees and started moving towards his left, hugging the wall just in case there were any surprises. When he rounded the corner, he was astonished by two smoldering towers. Earl laughed and boasted his accomplishment. "Great, now I need to get this door open. No big deal. Earl back off the compound just a bit."

Earl's chopper backed up as Luanne started to hover over to him. He looked up to see Luanne throwing down a ladder, then descending it. Once she was low enough, just a few feet above him, she hopped off and landed on her feet with a loud grunt. "Hey pops, I got the goods. Let's blow this thing." She reached into her pack and pulled out a square bomb.

"Excellent." He did the same with his pack. The two placed the bombs on the door and ducked out of the way, smirking at each other. Within seconds, the bombs went off, shattering the door in a mix of smoke and shrapnel.

Inside the compound, Rudy stood in the doorway, his eyes wide and fearful. Everyone remained in the hallway behind him as he moved into fighter stance and narrowed his eyes. Whoever it was, he wasn't going to let them hurt the people there. He'd fight to the death if he needed to. "We're already war prisoners, there's no way in hell I'm letting _another_ group of people take us."

He watched the thick black smoke with narrow eyes, flicking his eyes up at the black and green chopper above the compound. He'd been shocked to see a woman resembling Miley descending the rope ladder from the helicopter. To his shock, Luanne and Colt entered through the smoke, holding their breaths. At first he thought he was seeing his father and, somehow, Miley, but that was _impossible._ It didn't take long to put two and two together, allowing him time to relax.

"Y-You're shitting me…Uncle Bobby? Cousin Luanne?" He hadn't seen them in over twelve years. They looked the same, but at the same time, they seemed so different. Soot covered, yes. He took a few steps forward as the two eyed him and sighed out in relief. Miley and the others slowly filed out behind him, Miley froze up as she looked towards them, gasping in shock.

"Oh my god, _Luanne?!"_ Tears welled up in Luanne's eyes as she extended her arms.

"I've spent twelve years looking for you," Luanne remarked. "Twelve…fucking…years."

"Watch your language," Colt scolded in a whisper quiet tone.

"Oh you aren't a saint either."

"True…" Rudy looked back at everyone else, it seemed they were having difficulty processing whether or not they were being rescued. Colt looked back at the hole and chuckled softly. "I'm going to have to reconstruct that door in case more guards are brought, but anyway…" Rudy needed answers. Miley held onto his arm, tears drenched her cheeks.

"T-That hope, Rudy…You were right…"

Colt folded his arms over and cleared his throat. "I can explain the whole CIA thing to you later, but first, we want to get you _off this island_. There will be time for reunions then."

"Uncle Bobby, how many people can fit in those helicopters of yours?" Rudy asked while looking up at the choppers. This time he could see clearly, Uncle Earl and his grandmother. Tears welled up in his eyes and his breath clenched up in his throat. "My god…I never thought I'd see any of you again…" Colt walked forward and hugged him, as well as Miley. Luanne did the same. Miley wept in their arms.

"Unfortunately in the chopper Luanne and I are in, with your grandmother, two people can get in. There's enough room in these helicopters for the pilot, copilot, and three riders."

"Dad, we're going to switch out," Luanne stated. You and I will fly the black chopper while Grandma moves over and copilots with Uncle Earl. That way we can fit six people." She stepped back and looked at the prisoners. "How many of you are there?"

"Thirteen of us all together," Rudy answered. "But I'm afraid we're going to have to argue. I'm not leaving until every last one of them are free." He was adamant about that fact, and he could already name two people who were automatically going. Luanne and Colt exchanged frowns and Colt slowly closed his eyes.

"Fair enough, we're going to have to contact the agency and have them fly over here with more helicopters anyway. Are you sure you won't come along, Jackson? Rudy? Whichever your preference…"

"I'm sure, not until they're all safe. I have to protect them." He _wanted_ to go with his family, but his loyalty to these people was too great. He turned to Amanda and Miley, smiling slightly as he put his hands to their shoulders. They met his eyes and Miley started shaking her head.

"No Brother, I don't want to leave without you!"

"I'll be fine, and Amanda will take care of you until they pick me up. Right Amanda?" Amanda nodded and hugged him close. He looked back to see Colt motioning for Maxine to pull in. Luanne started to climb the ladder, entering the chopper and taking Maxine's place. Maxine was soon out and heading into Earl's chopper. "All right, you guys go in with Uncle Bobby and Luanne…"He took a deep breath and pointed at Will. "You, go with them."

"Sure thing," Will responded. Miley smiled at the man and put her head to his shoulder. This way, Rudy knew she'd be safe. Luanne flew the chopper in closer while Colt carefully led the trio up the ladder. As he did this, Rudy pointed to the guests on the compound that had been her e the longest. "I'm going to be fair here, the next three will be Pete, Rika, and Lisa." The three moved forward and gazed up at their saviors with tearful expressions. The others leaned against the building walls and peered up. They'd be rescued soon enough.

After the people were in their choppers, Colt and Rudy stood at the ladder, exchanging hugs. Colt leaned back, a proud glint shone in his eyes. "I'm proud of you, Jackson. We'll be back very soon for the rest. I think we'll be able to fit you in regardless, since that ten year old is small enough…it'd be a crowded fit, but we'll manage."

"Thank you. Do you know what's going to happen after this?"

"I reckon we'll fly you back to Pittsburg with your sister, we're all planning a move there ourselves." His heart rose at that, he would love to see them move closer to him! "This way you don't have to leave your dojo. Your friends are hotly pursuing those Black Dragons."

"I'm glad to hear that." He was indeed proud of them. He was also shocked to hear that the nail Miley found had been some sort of microchip. There were many things Colt informed him on that shocked him, he just needed time to process it. "You think you'll have to hold everyone at the agency?"

"Just for a few days, we're going to want to medicate everyone and make sure to try and help them recover and heal. I see you've done a good job of doing just that, so we probably won't have a lot of work ahead of us." Colt breathed in and closed his eyes. "I'm sorry about Robby. He would have been proud of you, I know that…" Rudy bowed his head and balled his hands. He shook a tear from his eye as Colt pat his shoulders. "Stand strong, you've done extremely well. We'll return soon, protect the others until then."

"I will, and you take care of those you have." He looked up at his sister and girlfriend in the helicopter, hanging their heads out at the top of the rope ladder. He smiled at them and waved. "God knows how important they are to me." Colt looked up and winced as Luanne scolded him to hurry up.

"We'll take good care of them Jackson, don't you worry. It was great to see you again, Nephew."

"You too…and you know what?" Colt grabbed the ladder rung and put one foot on a lower rung, glancing off at Rudy momentarily. "If you two knew where I was all these years…you could have paid me a visit!" Colt laughed and shrugged his shoulders.

"Too dangerous for you, people are put in witness protection for a reason."

"Yeah, and you're in the CIA, you're known for being discreet, so no excuses!" Colt laughed again and started climbing the ladder. As he neared the top, Luanne started to bring the chopper up. Jackson watched with pride as both helicopters started to fly away. The remaining prisoners surrounded him, watching happily as the choppers faded into the distance.

"It won't be long now," Eileen said to her husband. Rudy looked over with a smile as Eileen and Mark hugged and shared a quick peck. Martin had Debbie up in his arms, the young girl had her arm raised up and was waving at the vanishing helicopters.

"Stay safe!" Debbie called out with glee. "Come back soon! They won't forget us, will they Daddy? We'll see Eddie again?"

"Yes, we will," Martin replied.

Rudy put his hands to his hips and sighed as he looked to where the door had been. Colt had placed some sort of hologram device down to make it appear that the door was still there, just in case any guards decided to investigate. It would suffice until they returned to the island.

Vincent, Eileen, Mark, Martin, Debbie, Barbara, and Hector were all that was left besides Rudy. It was up to him to look after them, something that he could definitely do, especially considering this was the group that could take care of themselves. As long as everyone was safe, that was truly all that mattered. Thank god for his family, the CIA, and his father's 'fingernail'.

"Okay guys, let's get some rest. Not long before they come back."

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Quite a lot happened in this chapter! Tell me your thoughts, what surprised you? What did you like?


	47. Leaving the Island

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N: To that anonymous reviewer from last chapter: WHAT? You did read chapter 46, right? You know, where the CIA-Rudy's family-got on the island and rescued the captives? I uh, I appreciate your idea, but even still, that wouldn't be a realistic plot point for how this story has been going...If you've been paying attention _at all_ to the story, you'd realize that Oliver is 30, Kim and the others are like 15, and I don't write pedophilia so there's no way in hell Oliver's going to "start feeling" like he did with Lilly and Hilda (Who is still alive, mind you). There's no way he and Jack are going to "Fight for Kim's heart", especially since Jack and Kim are ALREADY TOGETHER. Jack and the group won't even be hitting this island BECAUSE Miley's and Rudy's family has already come to their rescue and destroyed just about everyone on the island, so there is that. Anyway, I do thank you for taking the time to leave a review, though I do question how well you were paying attention to the storyline :/. Anyway, do enjoy this chapter.

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Chapter 47 (Leaving the Island)

Two days later, August 5th, Rudy was well anticipating the CIA raid. Guards had flocked to the island like crazy, even checking on the remaining prisoners to make sure they were still there. Of course, no one had thought to attack them, which likely was a good thing in regards to the guards. Unfortunately, this meant the island was now treated as if it were some sort of militaristic base, and they were fully expecting the CIA to return for the rest of the prisoners.

Jets and helicopters had been flown in on the island, guards were stationed with better guns. Thankfully, the uncle that Rudy was relying upon left a radio for communication. Colt had been preparing his sector for what he termed his 'final mission'. After this, Colt and Maxine were planning a move to Pittsburg while Luanne was taking over as leader for the particular sector. Uncle Earl would remain until she was granted a transfer to Pittsburg in the next few months. Hopefully it wouldn't be long, because Rudy wanted to spend some time with his cousin as well.

A day ago, Rudy and Vincent discovered a basement beneath the compound. They'd gone around to the front of the building and entered the 'office' that Rudy saw as he passed into the building. This office had a stairway located that went down into a small area underground, a perfect hiding spot in case something went wrong. Of course, they opened the big bolted door that separated the hallway with the front area, so there was no need to try and slip around the outside where they could be spotted by the guards moving about the island.

"It's time…" Rudy moved from his room, holding the radio at his hip. He'd just been informed via radio that the agency was approaching the island and he would need to prepare his group. He kept his calm and called out for the others, possibly waking them from slumber, as many groans came as response. "We need to start moving downstairs, guys. Uncle Colt and Luanne are making their way here with the rest of the agency. This island is about to become a warzone."

"All right then," Vincent replied. All but Rudy and Vincent started going down to the basement, they were going to remain upstairs until the CIA arrived.

"I'm glad Jack and the others aren't getting caught up in this mess." Rudy moved with the elder towards the doorway and gazed out at the open recess area. He wouldn't miss this place one bit, though they _did_ have some good memories here. "Your grandson's one of my best students, you know. I'm impressed that they're actually trying to help the military with the Black Dragons, but I am a little bit concerned for them…" Vincent smiled slightly and lifted his shoulders.

"My grandson's always been about doing the right thing, even if the right thing is one of the more dangerous. Maybe if it wasn't for your family, Jack would have been the one here instead." It wasn't something that either Mark or Eileen, or any of them, wanted for their children. Such a dangerous, perilous journey filled with risks of death. Nobody wished their child to go through such a thing. "I'm grateful he found your dojo, to be honest. I hope you'll continue to teach your students."

"I never intended to stop." He may have to up their belt levels at this rate, but likely not. Though, they may very well have earned it. Vincent smiled at him and gazed up at the sky. Rudy listened for the distant rumble of jet engines and helicopter blades, they were nearing the island. "Uncle Colt grabbed the whole agency. He leads the sector, but is looking to retire after this…" The elder nodded his head and turned towards him.

"I hope the best for all of them."

"Thanks." He put his head to the doorframe and closed his eyes. An explosion wracked the ground from afar, jolting him back into reality. "They're here already?" He looked to the sky, thick black smoke was lifting up into the clear blue sky. Several jets were zipping through the sky, along with jets shooting off the island. Helicopters where shooting down at the island, filling the air with grass and dirt. "They are here! Come on, let's get downstairs."

"Right." The two men hurried back inside just as a rocket slammed into the recess area outside. They charged out into the office area, then down the steps where the others were. Eileen looked up beside Mark. Barbara and Martin were seated beside each other, Debbie curled into Barbara's lap. Hector hurried to the door and slammed it shut.

"The racket outside, are they here?" Hector managed. "Finally?" None of them could truly believe help was finally here. "So we'll be getting off the island soon enough…that is, assuming the CIA wins." They could hear muffled explosions and gunfire from outside. "Who do you think is winning?"

"Hopefully the people trying to save our asses," Barbara muttered. "Anyway, we're safe down here, not much light, but who's complaining?" Rudy glanced about the square room. The walls were made of stone pieces, the floor was consistent of brown cement, and there were a _few_ wooden chairs scattered about. The only light was a white bulb hanging from the center of the ceiling.

His body tensed as an explosion shook the ground above. He released a heavy sigh and started motioning for the others to stand. "We may as well do something while they're fighting up there. So let's get to work on those formations." Everyone slowly lined up in place, not entirely in the mood for the workout, but all willing to do whatever it took to pass along the time.

What was really a few hours felt like an eternity, but when the explosions had finally ceased, Rudy led the group outside into safety. The building was still intact, though the recess yard was completely destroyed. The group was in awe over the destruction strewn about on the island, all feeling a sense of death and fear as they gazed about the smoke filled skies and roaring engines.

They lined up side by side in front of the building, though behind Rudy, and watched as a long passenger helicopter began to land before them. Rudy spied Colt moving about the trees and grinned as his uncle came walking up to him. "A lot of fighting, but it's done," Colt remarked, hugging his nephew. He took a step back and motioned his hand to the helicopter. "We've even brought a passenger chopper for your group. I hope you're ready for a trip, because you're all going home." Behind him, cheers erupted from the crowd. Rudy laughed and folded his arms over.

"You say home, but you're really taking us to the agency's shelter aren't you?"

"Pretty much, yes. That's where the others are, they've been catching up on their rest. You should see them going at a piece of steak! It's entertaining."

"I bet." Rudy eyed the helicopter as several agents moved to guide his group towards it. His heart was racing and a heaviness descended upon him. More than likely, he was going to miss this island somewhat. "There were a lot of memories here, but I'll be glad to be off. You should know, there are bodies buried within the recess area of that compound, including Dad's…do you think you can retrieve them?" Colt looked towards the compound and brought a hand to Rudy's back.

"Yes, I'll have my men do that, so we can give Robby, and anyone else, proper funerals." It would take some time to identify who was who, but surely they would figure it all out. "Besides Robby, who else is in there?"

"As far as I know, a few prisoners, one guard, and Matata." Colt raised an eyebrow and Rudy smirked. "Yes, we took that guy out."

"Interesting. The others were telling us all about him, as well as Chogan. It appears Chogan has activated his devices…affecting all the celebrities in the world." Rudy's eyes widened, he opened his mouth to speak, but failed to form any coherent words. The devices had been activated? _Chogan_ did it? He thought Oliver was behind the whole thing!

"What?"

"Come on, you'll see what we're referring to…"

Once in the air, Rudy and Colt were seated together on the passenger helicopter with the rest. He was filled with despair as he watched the oceans below. As far as the eye could see, celebrities were swimming and walking without fail. He started to cry when he witnessed one that had swam off course due to a shark, blood was pooling around them, and their legs were floating along the sea. "Dear god, this is terrible…" He mourned over the lives being taken away from this world. It wasn't about the loss of entertainers, not at all. More entertainers would come in due time. Colt shook his head and leaned back in the chair.

"The greatest tragedy the world's ever seen…and it's your students that are working to stop it before those celebrities actually _reach_ the volcano." Rudy turned his gaze to the other passengers, all eyes glued to the spirit-crushing scene below them. He tore his eyes away, not wanting to look down, not _daring_ to witness the death of these innocent people.

"Christ…" He was going to be sick if he continued to look from the window. The grisly terror was all too much for _anyone_ to stomach. "How can anyone stop this mess? Miley's not affected at all by this?"

"Of course not, I'm guessing the Black Dragons never stuck her with that device." Once more, it appeared Oliver still had some sort of care in his heart for Miley. If he truly hated her, he would have subjected her to all of this. "Miley seemed to also indicate that Oliver Oken might not have had as much of an involvement as suspected. Considering Chogan stated in his feed that was all him."

"Wow…you wouldn't happen to have anything _else_ to tell me, would you?" He saw his uncle's face drop and soon the despair in his heart rose up even further, eating away at him. What was with all the bad news? "Please, _please_ tell me it's nothing as bad or serious as what's going on beneath us."

"Well son, that all depends on how you take it, really…" Colt reached for the cooler beside his seat and pulled out a bottle of beer. "You want a beer? I remember my brother always said when you turned twenty-one, he wanted to give you your first beer. Always said I should do it if he never got the chance…" Rudy's heart pulsed as he eyed the drink offered by his uncle. It was a _Sam Adams_, Boston lager. He didn't usually drink, and couldn't remember the last time he ever had a beer before. It was troubling missing out on that father-son tradition, as it had been carried out through the generations that the father would buy the son a beer on the 21st birthday. As far as he could recall, he may never consumed beer because that tradition couldn't be carried out.

"Yeah…I think I will…" He took the cold beer in his hand and watched with a tear in his eye as Colt grabbed another for himself. "So…what's the news?"

"Don't be in such a hurry…enjoy your beer." He nodded and slowly uncapped the drink. As he brought it to his lips, he relaxed his body and closed his eyes. "This your first drink?"

"I guess, I don't remember drinking before. I kind of just skipped over the whole process."

"I can understand that."

"Yeah." He carefully sipped the sparkling liquid, then brought the bottle down as he closed his mouth and held the fluid on his tongue. It bubbled and tickled his cheeks for a full five seconds before he swallowed it down. The taste was refreshing and curious as well, it begged a second drink. "It's good…" Colt smiled at him and put an arm around his shoulders, patting him gently.

"Just don't drink too much or too fast, alcohol can be a dangerous thing if you're not a wise drinker."

"I don't think I could ever drink to get drunk…"

"Good." After a few more minutes of silence and idle talk about the past, Rudy figured it was time to know what Colt's news was. The man took a deep breath and set his own beer on his leg. "It's your girlfriend."

"Amanda? What's wrong with her?"

"Nothing's _wrong_, per se, but she was spending some time with the doctor on site. She's pregnant, Rudy." His jaw fell and he gripped his bottle tightly to avoid dropping it during the shock. Amanda was _pregnant?_

"W-We only did it once. We got caught in the moment."

"Once is definitely enough. I have to admit, we, your family, are actually happy about it. I mean Luanne's not getting married anytime soon-which Miley keeps pestering her about, apparently." Colt scratched the back of his head and Rudy let the statement pass by him. He couldn't really react, though he had to admit, he wasn't surprised Miley would give Luann a hard time about relationships. "You need some time to react, but think about what you want to do. Keeping the baby obviously, but with Amanda, do you suppose you'll continue seeing her?"

"Y-Yeah, without a doubt. We were planning on it." He stammered about his words, then cleared his throat. Absorbing the news was difficult enough, now he just needed to react. "You're serious though, I mean, she's pregnant?"

"Yes. We've given everyone thorough medical checkups. Your sister's barren, unable to have children, also…" Rudy bowed his head and stared down at his beer. This was a hard thing to swallow, but he was okay with it. He would be there for Amanda and the baby, he had to be. "Another thing, we can't keep everyone at the agency forever, we'd like to find out where everyone belongs, and Miley's insistent on staying with you. Do you have a place for her?"

"Yeah, I'm renting a two bedroom house…one bedroom's a storage room, but I can clear it out for her."

"All right, I'm glad to hear that. You're definitely the man of the house now, it's up to you to take care of your sister. You know that."

"Right. I do. When…when will you be moving to Pittsburg?"

"As soon as I retire and get my things in order, your grandmother and I will find a place."

"Okay…" He took a slow, deep breath, and turned his gaze towards the glossy window. They were over land now, but still could see a long trail of singers marching beneath them. When would this nightmare be over?

* * *

So what did you guys think of this chapter? Anything surprising, anything nice? Good that they finally get _some_ amount of peace, finally safe.


	48. Family Unit Restored

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 48 (A Family Unit Restored)

Rin was led by Fan towards the home of her grandparents. Dylan was with her for moral support. She was terrified by what would happen, as she didn't know how they'd react. It had been almost twenty years since they saw her. What were they like? Did they think she'd be alive or dead? Fan said she called them and informed them about her. Fan said she was certain they might have a heart attack! They were silent for a long time on the phone, then questioned if it was a prank, to which Fan stated it was not. Apparently Grandma Amaya fainted, so Grandpa Yuki had to hang up.

"Sachiko Yuki, Sachiko Amaya," Fan read the names on the mailbox attached to the wall beside the door. Rin's knees began to grow weak and her hand clenched tight onto Dylan's. Fan looked back at her with a gentle smile. "We're here. Are you ready to go inside?" Fan's eyes flicked up to Dylan and her lips smoothed into a smirk. "By the way Dylan, Japanese families tend to have a little bit of traditional ways. Don't be surprised if Yuki expects you to ask permission for Rin's hand in marriage, even though he's not seen her in twenty years." Dylan started to pale and Fan snickered.

"Don't scare him, we're already scared enough as is!" Fan slowly nodded and lifted her hand to the doorbell. "Wait!" Rin threw her hand to her mouth and Fan looked back at her with concern. She relaxed her body and lowered her fingers a bit. "Okay, sorry, go ahead…" Her friend sighed and started moving back, then a bout of nervousness struck her once more. "Oh hold on! I'm not ready!" Annoyed, Fan turned to her and impatiently tapped her foot on the ground.

"Take as much time as you need," she replied through clenched teeth. Rin met her eyes and chuckled nervously. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment and her fingers curled into her palms on her face. She couldn't help but to be so nervous. After a few seconds, she motioned for Fan to go ahead and ring the bell. Just before Fan could do so, she called out in panic once more, earning a frustrated growl from her friend. "Come on, Rin! We don't have all day!"

"I'm sorry!" She squealed in return. Dylan squeezed her hand and chuckled softly as Fan started to turn back to the door. Rin inhaled slowly and closed her eyes. "Okay…okay I won't stop you this time. Go ahead."

"Are you _sure_?"

"Yes."

"No stopping me…"

"Right!" She opened her eyes and watched Fan moving towards the bell once again. Sweat dripped along her forehead and she cried out again, causing Fan to yell out in frustration. "I uh-I think I have something on my blouse! My hair's not properly groomed!" Fan turned back to her, hands on her hips, and started looking her over. There didn't appear to be anything wrong, she was only stalling. "I'm sorry Fan, I'm just really-" The door flew open and Rin let out a frightened squeak at the elderly man blinking in their direction.

"Thought I heard a commotion," the man said. Yuki was a very tall and slender man, his shadow fell over Dylan, who was a good six feet. This man towered above him four inches more. He had thin black hair slowly fading to grey, and silver hair on the sides. His silver moustache resembled a comb, with its bristles curling in at the top of the man's thin lips. His eyes had a spark of happiness to them that far overshadowed the crows feet and the bumps on his face. He appeared to still be in good shape as he stood straight up and needed nothing to support himself with.

Behind him stood an elderly woman with a soft, kindred face and a round body. Her silver hair was up in a bun, and her lips were curved up in a smile. Her wrinkled cheeks sagged somewhat, and her forehead had one long crease line stretched across it. In her hands, she was holding a plate of chocolate chip cookies, as if she were expecting them. Her hands were shaking, like she had Parkinson's. The elders eyed Rin in what was instant recognition. "It _is_ you," Amaya said with astonishment. She set the plate on a pedestal near the door and walked out, putting her hands to Rin's cheeks. "You look so much like your mother." Tears welled up in the old woman's eyes while Yuki remained speechless. "Come in, come in!" Rin hesitated only for a second to wipe away her own tears. She let the woman move around her and push her into the house.

The home was decorated in a brilliant Japanese style, and Rin instantly checked the door to see if they were still following tradition. Indeed, their shoes were sitting there on the clean wood. "Fan, Dylan, your shoes!" The trio removed their shoes before following Yuki and Amaya past the paper-like walls and into the living room.

The den was very well decorated in traditional Japanese style, with a small table on the ground and four silk pillows on both sides. A few feet away was an oak brown table atop a brown rug. It had four chairs around it. On the surface were many papers for work and a laptop with a coffee mug beside it on a coaster.

The group knelt on the pillows surrounding the smaller table, thanking Ayami as she set the plate of cookies in the center. Yuki pulled a separate pillow from beneath the table and set it down for Fan. He remained at the head with Ayami to his right. Fan sat beside Ayami while Rin and Dylan knelt on the other side. "You have a lovely home," Rin started. "I um…I'm afraid I really don't know where to start. I, I never knew I still had grandparents. I never knew my mom was possibly around."

"She never stopped looking for you," Yuki responded. His eyes dipped down and Rin felt a sudden pang in her heart. She'd always believed her mother left her behind, that she hated her. "She blamed herself for rushing off in such a rage that she didn't realize she left her daughter with the man who cheated her…and then she disappeared as well."

"I know, my friend-and orphanage sister-Daiyu Fan, has been searching for her all these years." Amaya nodded to Fan, giving her a gentle smile. "Still she's not made any progress…" Rin actually wanted to see her mom, she wanted to _know_ what happened. There were variations of the truth that she never quite understood, but would she be ready for that?

Amaya spoke up next. "We got a call from the CIA agency a couple days ago, on the 2nd of August. They found Rika." Rin's eyes widened and Fan's jaw fell agape. She couldn't believe it! Her mom? _Found?_ "Rika is visiting today as well, you've arrived first. We didn't know which would be here…CIA wanted to hold her longer, but she insisted, and I wanted to see my daughter."

"M-Mom's coming here? Today?" Tears began to well up in her eyes and she slowly looked towards the plate of cookies. When they made their way in initially, they passed the kitchen, and she was sure she saw some items out for dinner. "A-Are you making supper?"

"Yes, the cookies are to tide everyone over. I…" The woman started to blush. Rin leaned forward a bit, smiling at her grandmother and reaching for a cookie. One before dinner wouldn't hurt. "I just wanted to have warm cookies ready for when my granddaughter arrived." Rin nodded at her and took a bite of the luscious, warm cookie. She was content with the flavorful chocolate embracing her tongue.

"It is really good. Thank you, Grandma." She opened up her eyes and met the woman's tearful smile. "Can I help make dinner for Mom? Did she say where she's been all this time?"

"Captivity," Yuki muttered. Rin coughed on the cookie and she quickly looked to her grandfather, apologizing and asking for him to explain. "She said the woman who shot your father was a part of this Black Dragon organization. That they were working for that man, Chogan, and they locked her on a prison compound. Recently the CIA located them."

She covered her mouth and looked down at the table. Her heart split and her body ached as the guilt surrounded her. "Oh my god…" She blamed her mother all these years, thinking it was the woman's fault for her being put in that orphanage. "C-Chogan…" She heard Fan growl and looked over, Fan's fists were clenched on the table and her eyes were glaring down at them. "Mom's alive."

"Yes. It's been a while since she's had a good meal, that's why your grandmother has been working hard on today's supper."

"I'm glad, then I really want to help. Can I?" Amaya beamed happily and Yuki nodded, flashing an appreciative smile.

"Of course." Yuki pointed to Dylan. "You didn't introduce this young man."

"Oh! I'm sorry!" She moved her arms around Dylan's arm and brought her head to his shoulder. "This is my boyfriend, Dylan Patrick. We've known each other for almost twelve years now and are very much in love." Yuki rubbed his chin as Dylan stretched his arm to shake the man's hand. The elder shook his hand and quickly lifted a finger.

"Amaya, can you grab us some sake? I would like to get to know this gentleman while you and Rin finish up supper." Amaya nodded and slowly rose to her feet. The woman asked for Fan to help, and Rin quickly rose to join the two. As they were exiting, Rin looked back to see her grandfather leaning forward with a huge grin, tapping his fingertips together. "Ah Dylan, I do hope my granddaughter taught you how to use chopsticks." Sadly, she never quite got around to doing that.

That, of course, was when it dawned on Dylan that everyone in the house but him likely knew how to use chopsticks.

An hour later, Rika had arrived. It was a tearful reunion for the family, and Rin was very shy towards her. It wasn't until they were serving dinner that she even mustered the courage to speak. They were all kneeling at the table in the same positions, though Rika was across from Yuki. Rin took it upon herself to set the table, since she wanted to show that she had some manners.

The meal was consistent with the traditional Japanese _Ichiju-sansai_, which basically consists of one soup and three sides, or _okazu_. Everyone had a bowl of Miso soup, a bowl of rice with a bottle of soy placed at the center of the table. The three _okazu_, each utilizes a different cooking technique with _raw, simmered, and grilled_ as the most traditional techniques. One plate would consist of sashimi, then pork, and finally some shredded fried seaweed which was extremely good.

Everyone thanked the cooks and said a small prayer before beginning to eat. Rin first noticed Dylan was attempting to eat with poor execution of his chopsticks. Yuki had tried to show him how to use them well, and he was doing _decently_, but not perfect. Rika had picked up the use rather quickly, but Rin always felt eating with chopsticks was something that one never forgot how to do.

She happily watched her mother, studying her as she charged through her food. Rika was very thin looking, a true sign that she hadn't had much to eat and must have been captive somewhere. She felt a sickening feeling in her stomach and slowly took a bite of her own meal, once everyone else had taken a bite first. "Mother I'm sorry…" Rika looked over at her as she set her chopsticks down on the plate. She could hardly bear eating, especially when she knew what her mother had gone through. "I blamed you for my own predicaments, and I never knew the truth. Now that I know the truth, I just…" She closed her eyes and slowly shook her head, still wishing she could deny the things she'd heard. "I was in an orphanage all those years, Mom. When you came back for me, Dad was already killed and the police had been so quick to throw me into an orphanage, not bothering to find you…"

"They wouldn't tell me anything either," Rika replied. The woman set her chopsticks down, and was followed by the others. It seemed a polite gesture. "I didn't know why until I realized they were being paid off by that organization…I regretted my anger every day. I should never have left you behind."

"It wasn't your fault. I guess. I'm just really sorry. My best friend searched for you, and the CIA found you. I'm glad, and…I want to be a family. You, me, Grandma, and Grandpa." She slowly moved her hand to her stomach and bowed her head. "I also have something else…I don't know when the right time to bring it up is, so I'm going to say it now. I'm pregnant. So I hope we can be a family…"

Rika gasped and the grandparents stared on in shock. She lifted her head up to them and felt Dylan's hand over hers beneath the table. Rika slowly stood up and walked over, motioning for her to stand too. The woman then hugged her and started to sob. "My baby. I love you always and forever, I would love nothing more to be a family, and I am happy you've found someone who can make you happy…you don't know how happy I am, Rin."

Dylan wiped his mouth with his napkin and cleared his throat. The others looked over at him as he slowly rose to his feet. "Then while we're all confessing our acceptance of one another, I have something I want to add, if I may…" Fan chuckled at this and Rin began to blush. "Um…Sachiko-san?" Yuki raised an eyebrow and Rin slowly tapped her finger onto her chin. She wasn't too sure if that was the proper way to address him. Yuki stood up and put his hands behind his back.

"Yes?"

"I love Rin with all my heart, and I would do everything and anything to make her happy. She is the mother of my child as well, and I wish to raise that child with her..." Rika put her hand to Rin's shoulder while Amaya began to silently gush over what was happening. "I was informed that while she's been separated for so long, it would still be proper, and possibly expected, that in place of her father, I ask you permission to marry her." Now Fan was only teasing the hell out of him when she said that, but Rin thought he knew she wasn't being _serious_. It was respectful, but maybe unnecessary. "Now sir, I love her with all my heart, and I know I'm Australian, but I don't think that's at all important. What is important is having someone who makes you happy, and I believe we make each other happy, and she's helped me to become a better person in so many ways. We love each other, and I want to spend the rest of my life together with her, and so, I ask your blessing."

Yuki chuckled and walked over, placing his hands firmly upon Dylan's shoulders. "Dylan, my son, sit _down_ and enjoy supper…You don't need to go through all of that, though I admire and appreciate it. You have my blessing, because I can see that you make her happy, and it is your responsibility to be a father to that child she carries." Dylan started to grin as Yuki moved back to the seat. "All right everyone, let us enjoy our first meal together…as a _family_."

Everyone took their seats and Rin quickly leaned over, pecking Dylan on the cheek. Truly, this was the best day of her life, and a day she would never forget.

* * *

A sweet chapter, I think. What are your thoughts on it?


	49. Many Reunions

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 49 (Many Reunions)

Jack pushed through the hospital doors, the others following close behind. It was the 6th, and he was fed up with his stay._ Finally_ they willingly released him, and it was growing late with every passing minute and every passing day. "It's about damned time," he muttered while glaring out at the streets. Devastation surrounded him, people mourned in the streets and others prayed for hope and strength. Salvation. He clenched his fists tight and narrowed his eyes. "That's it, I'm sick of waiting. We need to find this machine and turn it off, _now_."

"Not so easy," Eddie replied. "We have no clue where to look. For all we know, everything is lost." Jack growled at him and began walking, there was no way he would accept that answer. Jerry took out his cell and dialed their pilot to be waiting for them with the plane. Eddie rubbed his forehead, tracing the line on his head with his thumb. "The plus is Milton did say Julie had Mr. Wasabi trapped in a safe room. The powder was contaminated when we broke that disk apart."

"Yeah, and the downside is we have to deal with that machine being the only way to save any of these people." He moved his head to the right and raised an eyebrow as he spied General Thompson moving towards him. "Hello sir, did you come to check up on us?" The man curled his lips into a smirk and folded his arms over.

"Well in truth, I came to get you guys out of the hospital, but it seems you've done that yourself." Jack scoffed and glared at the doors of the hospital. Hopefully he'd never have to deal with that place again, there were far too many bad memories, but mostly just of him getting pissed over being unable to leave. "Okay, so here's what we have so far. This Chogan fellow is 'double o', nobody except for us know anything about this Oliver guy. What's the deal regarding him?" Jack had informed the General of everything they'd been learning in regards to Oliver, and the man was starting to believe along the lines of Jack, that Oliver may just need to fade away into obscurity. If he's indeed forced into that lifestyle through Chogan's influence, then Jack would need to see where his heart was before they discussed any possible pardon for the man himself.

"I need to be able to see if there's any 'trueness' in his heart, I have to see if he can come to the conclusion that he has people who need him and whether or not he truly wants all of this genocide. It's a tough choice, but only a handful of us know anything about his involvement with the organization. So, if Chogan is willingly taking the fall for him, then perhaps we need to reassess the situation."

"I agree. The world militaries have disposed of many of the Black Dragons dojos, all that's left is Chogan, apparently."

"Yeah, and maybe-" His cell phone began to chime, catching his attention within seconds. He looked down with a surprised groan. Who would be calling him right now? All of his friends were here, and Milton was in California, but his ringtone was different along with all of their friends. "Excuse me one minute, I need to get this…" The general nodded and Jack quickly pulled his phone up to his ear. "Hello? Who's calling?"

"Jack!" Rudy's voice erupted in his ear and nearly knocked him to the floor, sucking the air from him. His eyes widened and his lips parted ways. The others stared at him curiously and he quickly shook his head. "Man I'm glad to hear your voice! The others are with you, right?"

"R-Rudy?" His friends gasped and began a commotion for him to put Rudy on the speaker. He did as requested and cleared his throat, trying to calm himself down. His eyes glazed over as he slowly sat cross-legged on the ground, pressing his free hand on his knee. "Everyone's here. I mean, Milton's in California right now, but everyone else is here. We were about to go pick him up…How are you calling?"

"The CIA found us, Jack! You should have seen it! The CIA raided the whole island, bodies were everywhere, smoke filled the skies…it was a warzone…all because my father's family was in the CIA, I accidently turned on this microchip and my uncle came running."

"So…you're safe? You're all safe?"

"Yes, every one of us. Uncle Colt would like for you to come over to the agency, he has an idea for locating the device that turned on the machine." Jack's head shot up to the General, who smiled and nodded in reply. It was clear what their next step would be. If the CIA could locate that damn machine, then maybe they could save all those innocent lives. "The CIA can take the location of the feed Chogan put out, forcibly access that camera, and then locate the coordinates. When that happens, you can turn it off."

"Our families, they're with you as well?"

"Yes. Your mom, dad and grandfather, Jerry's father, and Eddie's father and sister." Eddie squeaked in reply, then covered his mouth in shock as Jack slowly looked to him with an arched brow. Jerry remained silent, but his lips were slowly curling up into a smile. "My sister's alive too, she's with me right now, and uh…my girlfriend too." He chuckled nervously and Jack leaned back, staring down at his phone. Rudy got a girlfriend during captivity? Seriously? "I'm going to be a dad!"

"Oh geez…Rudy, let me call Milton. We'll have to pick him up, then we'll all be there as soon as we can. Well, except for Bobby and…Phil…" Rudy muttered and cleared his throat.

"What's wrong with Phil?" The others hardened themselves and Jack slowly shook his head, trying to push away the memory of that betrayal.

"We'll talk about that later. Give us your location and we'll be there as soon as possible…"

Milton remained in the hospital room, tapping his foot impatiently. He'd been remaining there to ensure Hilda would remain safe while waiting for Jack and the others to come for him. It was actually Jack's order that he remain there in the first place.

Ken and Yvonne had arrived days ago, neither spoke a word to each other before today. Currently Yvonne was standing on the right side of Hilda's bed while Ken remained on the left side. Milton was there ensuring to keep the peace. Jack had called him a few minutes ago, saying they were getting on the private jet to pick him up, then they were going to find Rudy. He'd gone through the excitement, but that had simmered now that Ken and Yvonne were there.

"I don't want to lose her," Yvonne said as she pushed Hilda's hair from her forehead. "My beautiful angel…" She'd already done her whole apology speech. Every single day, she cried over Hilda's body, begging for her to come back and begging for forgiveness from her. Yvonne looked up at Ken, her hands trembling. "Let's not fight while we're here. I accept that you're here, I accept your concern for her…" Ken slowly nodded his head and met her eyes.

"I wish I had been able to talk to her before this. She's all either of us have now…and all I could care about is that she wakes up soon. Family means everything, and I should have realized that. I know I messed up when I had that one night stand, but it shouldn't have just been that. My ex wanted me to spend time with Hilda."

"Really? That's a surprise."

"I was the stubborn one, and I lost my wife for that. My daughter didn't trust me either, always blaming me for lying to her. I think she knew I had another child somewhere…and I know she would have wanted to see her She hated being an only child." Ken scoffed and thumbed his nose. He turned his gaze to Hilda's face and smiled warmly at her. "She is a beautiful child. We both made bad mistakes, and she suffered for it…"

"We're bad parents, to make our children hate us."

"No one said we hated you," a man said from behind. Milton started to stand, but remained calm when Yvonne gasped, recognizing the voice. Everyone turned to look, three people were standing in the doorway. A tall man with short blonde hair, firm locked jaw, and strong eyes stood in front of two identical twin girls. The women were not quite as tall as he was, both about five feet, a full foot shorter. Their blonde hair was up in a ponytail, and their diamond eyes gazed with longing at Hilda. "We just opted to stay away from you because you were an unhealthy presence…and for what you did to Hilda…"

"G-Garth…Simone, Helga…" Simone was the one wearing a purple shirt and long black jeans. Helga had a blue spaghetti strap dress with a pleated bottom that shrouded her knees. Simone had a more serious expression with a narrow gaze while Helga was softer, more accepting and warm. Simone's blonde hair was darker than Helga's, and the tip of her hair was dyed black. "You came?"

"We came to see Hilda." Garth put a police cap on his head and walked over to Hilda, placing a bouquet of roses beside her. "Simone and Helga called me when you went to Italy, apparently they found me roaming about London. I am a police officer there."

"We do have a lot to catch up on," Simone remarked bluntly. "But first, we need to just pray Hilda will wake up from her coma. We're all here for her…" She looked over to Milton and tilted her head to the door. "Thanks for watching over her. You can leave now."

He wasn't about to argue with her. With an instant, he made his way out of the room. Pride and happiness filled his heart as he gazed over his shoulder. It seemed the family would come together, so many reunions were happening today, and he was pleased to witness them. As he made his way out of the hospital, he caught up with Jack while he was entering. "Milton!"

"Jack, what's up!" Milton turned enthusiastically towards him. "Guess what, Hilda's siblings came to see her. Even Garth!"

"Really? There's a shock." Jack turned his head towards the hallway leading to Hilda's room. "Wasn't he the one that Ms. Bodil hadn't heard from in years?"

"Yeah, it was a great reunion. I guess they'll still have some stuff to talk about, one of the twins ordered me to leave. I guess they have private family business to discuss."

"Makes sense. We have our own reunion to get to, then business. So…let's get going."

Milton's shoulders slumped and he heaved an awkward sigh. "Of course." Jack was always all about the call to duty, though understandable. Now it was more crucial than ever that they hurry the hell up.

It was seven in the evening when they arrived at the agency. The group followed close behind Jack as they entered the CIA building. He felt a sense of accomplishment with each step he took bringing him closer and closer to Rudy. This was the moment he'd been waiting for, nearly two months it took him just to find the man. A part of him was upset that someone else found him first, but at the same time, he was extremely grateful that someone _did_ find him.

Upon entering the main lab, everyone awaiting him turned to him. Rudy was standing beside his Uncle, grinning. Colt was dressed in a black suit and tie. He tugged on his jacket and signaled the others. From nearby, Eddie's little sister called out and ran for him, practically tackling her older brother to the ground. Jack's family rushed over to him and immediately began hugging him.

He laughed as his mom started to smother him with kisses. After a while, and meeting Kim's smirk and gaze, he cleared his throat and stepped to the side. He smoothed his hand through his hair and caught his family smiling at him. "We're proud of you, son," Mark said. Eileen slowly nodded her head and closed her eyes.

"We talked about you working with the military to stop this organization. I'd rather you didn't, but I know this is something you feel you have to do, so…I'll try to respect that." She folded her arms as Mark put his arm around her waist. Jack eyed this gesture with sudden shock and slowly pointed at them.

"Hold up, you two…"

"What's that dear?" Eileen looked down and chuckled once before kissing Mark on the cheek. "Right, well…we spent a lot of time in captivity together, and we discussed our future. We couldn't have survived that place without each other, so we renewed our vows so to speak, and agreed that we would stay together. No divorce."

He was wowed by the news, unsure of how to respond. If he could jump for joy, he would, but his travels had hardened him just a bit. The excitement was in his heart, as was the desire to celebrate, but he believed it was necessary to hold off on that until the whole ordeal was over. He looked to his grandfather, who was motioning for his attention.

"You're all we have left," Vincent began, "So we really don't want to lose you. However dangerous this situation is, we have faith that you'll be okay, but you _need_ to make it back alive. For Nathan and Rachel, for your family, don't let anything happen to you."

"Thanks grandpa." He looked over to the others and smiled at them. Eddie was busy still being hugged by his sister, who was crying tears of joy. Martin and Barbara were also with him, discussing important matters. Jerry and his father were seated on a border wall around a dirt field and planted tree. Hector was tearing up, his hand on Jerry's shoulder. None of them wanted their kids to go through with this, he could tell, but this was the point of maturity. They _had_ to. He put his arm around Kim's waist, ignored the burning glare he was receiving from Ciara, and smiled at his family. "I've got a great team. We can do this. Together. Now…I hate to have to cut this reunion short, but…we have to talk business."

They nodded and he moved over to Rudy, putting his hand to his mentor and friend's shoulder. The two walked off a few feet from the others, followed by Kim and Milton. Eddie and Jerry came over after a few seconds once they realized it was time to talk with Rudy. Jack looked over to two women that were off to the side, Miley and Amanda. He recognized Miley from photographs online. He was amazed that she was still alive after all these years. "So that's your sister? Good to see she's still around."

"I think Oliver had a hand in keeping her alive, to be honest," Rudy replied. Stunning the group. "I have a lot to tell you, and I don't know that Oliver is truly involved in the genocide that's happening."

"Well let's put what we know with what you know, then we can make that decision. Along with any other decision. I also have bad news for you…Phil…he betrayed us, Rudy." Rudy's gaze snapped towards him, his eyes grew the size of melons.

"_Phil_? As in Falafel Phil? Our guy?"

"I'm afraid so. He…tried to hand Kim, and well me too but I wasn't there, over to the Black Dragons. For money." Rudy groaned and moved a hand to his stomach. Jack knew what he was feeling, as he'd felt that same hurt and that same pain. "Kim almost died because of him. Frank and the Black Dragons are gone, Sensei Ty's been arrested, and Lonnie is…dead."

"I see."

"We have a recorder that Ernesto Vasco gave us, Chogan explains everything in it. Including…exerting his control over the Oken family. He even had something to do with Lilly Truscott's death, in an attempt to scare Oliver and force him into complying with his wishes through anger…" Rudy winced again and leaned over, gripping a railing firmly. Jack heard Miley cry out and looked over to see her blown up in a rage.

"All this time it wasn't even Oliver? It was that Chogan guy? Controlling him?! What about Oliver's family?"

"Apparently he believes they're dead. Oliver's father lost an eye, and his little brother's become a drug addict failing college and whatnot…In other news, Hilda Bodil is comatose, _and_ she's pregnant." Rudy lifted his head up and furrowed his brow. "Oliver is the father of two unborn twins. Chogan just sent his men to kill Ernesto and Hilda, that's why we had to move her to an American hospital…Ernesto Vasco is dead."

Rudy stood straight up and cleared his throat. "Okay Jack…I want you to find him. Find Oliver…and go with your gut. If what you're saying is true, if it all points to Chogan, then Oliver still has something in his heart. I know, because he cared about Miley, and the whole reason he abducted me was in order to bring us back together. Matata and Chogan killed my father…they even orchestrated your families being taken, not Oliver. Figure out what's going on, and put a stop to this craziness."

"We will. I think you said the CIA could locate the location of that machine?" He felt a hand on his shoulder and quickly glanced back to see Colt peering down at him.

"We can do that," Colt replied. "It will take a couple of days, but we _can_ crack this code. Have patience with us and we'll come through."

"Okay, but you understand that you have to work fast. Lives are depending on it."

"Yes. We have men working on it right now. As well as…returning all the prisoners to their homes. Can you see to it that they all have safe arrivals?"

"Yes. We can."

"Good. Then if we work together, your team, the Military and the CIA, we can put a stop to all of this." It was time to unite their resources and to save the world. Now that Rudy and the others were safe, there was nothing that would stand in their way. Jack looked to his team and smirked, full of confidence of their coming success. They all smirked back at him and he issued his trademark order.

"Let's do this."

* * *

Well finally Jack and the others have been reunited. Looks like they have a good plan for working with the CIA and the Military. Hopefully things will work out. Tell me your thoughts on this chapter, what caught your eyes?


	50. Marisol

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N: This chapter was _inspired_ by the song Marisol by Emily Osment. (Yes, some of those Disney singers actually have good songs, it's amazing.) I'll post the lyrics at the end for you.

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Chapter 50 (Marisol)

Hilda awoke to childish laughter and found herself surrounded by a meadow of fresh green grass and daisies that littered the ground. Above her was a bright and beautiful blue sky, not a cloud in the sky. "Where am I?" Her hands flew to her mouth when a young childlike voice left her lips. She peered down and moved her hands away, gazing in shock at the small fingers on her tiny hands. "I'm young again? How?"

She slowly rose to her feet and glanced down at her body. Her light blonde hair brushed against her bare shoulders, sweeping her pink spaghetti straps that connected to her pink top. The top was attached to a long purple skirt that flowed in pleats around her ankles. Hilda looked up to the sky as voices surrounded her. Voices she recognized, they'd always been there, speaking to her. She wanted to respond, but didn't know how. She'd heard Oliver, her friends, that boy Jack and his team, and even her own mother and siblings. Her birth father as well. All expressed their doubts, their fears, their sorrows and guilt. Somehow she had to wake up, but at the same time, if she slept she wouldn't have to deal with the outside world. If she slept, she wouldn't have to face up to everything that was going on. She didn't _want_ to wake up.

"Marisol!" Cried a young child, laughing gleefully. Hilda was confused, why was someone calling her a name that didn't belong to her? She turned around to see a young girl, her age, with similar length hair and a similar outfit. Only this girl was wearing a yellow dress. "Marisol, come on. You're it, it's your turn! Chase me." The name was being pronounced as _Mar-e-sole_. Who was this girl, and why was she taking presence in this place?

"Who are you and why are you calling me that?" The girl laughed and twirled in place. "I don't belong here. I don't know where I go from here. Am I dead? Am I alive?" The girl laughed once more and moved over, wrapping her small fingers around her wrist. "My name isn't Marisol. My name is Hilda." Granted, Marisol was a beautiful name, much nicer than her own name was. This girl she was talking to had a strange familiarity to her, but she couldn't put a finger on it.

"Just come with me, run with me." The girl pulled her forward, so she started running in an attempt to prevent her from being dragged behind. As they ran, she looked back at the field behind her. There were no trees, only grass that went on for miles. Just as they were in front of them. But behind her, the grass was darkening as they ran, the flowers wilting. She had to question if death was coming for her, but where could she hide? Where could she go? "Come on Marisol, we're going to miss the train!"

"What train?"

"The train at the end of the meadow, silly! You have to catch it. You want to wake up, don't you?"

"Um…I don't know. I mean, what's ahead? I don't want to wake up only to find out that I'm pretty much…"

"Silly Marisol, you cannot sleep forever! You have to wake up! Don't you have things you want to do? We all do!" The girl stopped running with her and turned, smiling into her eyes. "I want to be a singer one day. I want to dance in the wind and be happy with all my friends." Hilda smiled at her and slowly nodded her head. She had dreams, of course she did, but did those dreams truly matter anymore?

"This moment right now, right here…my childhood…that's the last time I was truly happy." Innocence, perhaps that was why she'd taken this form. She couldn't be happy, could she? All she'd ever done was run, run from her family and from the things that hurt her. To run from the pain of loss. Giving in seemed to be something that made sense right now. "If I wake up, I won't be a child anymore. Do you understand? If I wake up, everything comes back. All the terrors, the past, the memories, they will come _back!_ I don't want to remember. I would be perfectly content to live in this meadow forever."

"But Marisol, the meadow is dying. You need to reach the train. Fly, Marisol, fly!"

"My name isn't _Marisol!_ I don't even know what you're going on about regarding a train."

"You'll see, you just need to look ahead and you'll find it. It's there. It'll take you ahead, you can be happy and you don't have to look back."

"There is only grass…grass everywhere. Behind me, fear and famine. Ahead, nothing."

"Just believe Marisol. It's in your heart that there's a chance."

"I have nothing, I am nothing. There is nothing in front of me."

Around her, the world changed to brokenness and the girl faded away. Her body aged itself and she soon found herself in yet another empty world. She had her teenage youth back, but was kneeling among debris, picking up shards of broken glass like an old lady. "Now what…" She lifted up one glass and felt a tear moving down her cheek. The glass retained a memory, the memory of abandonment. The shards were all of the painful parts of her life, but mixed with some good, if there was anything good. "My brother and sisters, they loved me. I remember they did. Momma was always upset…"

"You traveled everywhere with them, didn't you Marisol?" Again? She rose to her feet and reached back to scratch her head. She noticed her hair up in a long ponytail, brushing against her back. The girl in front of her was similarly dressed in a purple shirt and denim blue jeans, she had a long blond ponytail as well. Though, she was wearing a helmet on her head and pads on her elbows and knees. The girl had roller skates on her feet and she was circling Hilda. "All your life you carried those memories. They're not who you are, Marisol, they're memories."

"They made me who I was. You still haven't told me who you are…are you _me?"_ The girl closed her eyes and shook her head. She lifted one foot up and spun in place, laughing as she nearly stumbled. Hilda caught her and helped her to stand. "If you're not me, then who are you? Why are you calling me Marisol?"

"Marisol is a beauty. Marisol is your soul, your spirit." Hilda scoffed as the girl began skating backwards. "Your memories didn't make you who you are. You made your memories what they are. Feels like rain, Marisol!" The girl spread her arms and looked up to the sky as rain started to fall from the sky. Hilda put her hands to her arms, shivering as the cold rain drenched her body. "These are tears. Your tears, but also the tears that everyone cried over you."

"That's too many tears, unless the majority of them are mine." The girl hummed again and slowly looked to her eyes. She smiled at her and grabbed her hand. Suddenly skates appeared on her own feet, and the girl started pulling her along. She let out a loud yelp as the rain _kept falling_. Who would cry over her?

"Only about thirty to forty percent of these tears are yours, Marisol. I'll admit you've had a lot of negativity. You need to stop looking back so much." She glanced over her shoulder and frowned as the sky behind her darkened. Still she didn't know what was ahead of her. "We still have to hurry to the train, Marisol." She growled once more and narrowed her eyes.

"What train? There's nothing in front of us."

"You're too busy looking behind us, Marisol! Look inside you, look in your heart. Believe there's a way, a future. Look _ahead_, you won't crash, you'll find there is a train. When you reach the train, you're going to fly Marisol. Spread your wings and fly."

"No, there's too much. Too much doubt weighing me down…"

"You can do it Marisol. It'll be okay, Marisol. The world is yours, you're in control of your own life. The past isn't in control. The past is what it is, you can control your future though."

"I _can't!_ I can't do it! I swear! If I wake up, nothing will be different. I'll have lost everyone and everything. Didn't you hear? Ernesto is dead! Una is dead! Chogan is controlling Oliver! Oliver may wind up dead too…" The girl's face dropped for a second and she slowly turned her gaze to her. "Why should I wake up?"

"Because of the tears Marisol. Your family wants you, your mother wants you. She may have abandoned you like the memory says, but you control whether you fix things between her or whether you shun her."

"You talk as if I have a choice over what goes on in my life. Oliver doesn't have a choice, I don't have a choice…none of us have a choice!"

"Oliver will be granted the crossroads, he'll have to make his decision over life or death. Unfortunate yes, but we're not talking about him. You're scared, I know you are Marisol. Here's what I want you to do…"

"What?" She looked in front of her and groaned, still there was nothing in front of her.

"The future is always an uncertain one, but that's why you need to hold your head up and have confidence…faith that things will be okay. Believe in yourself, believe you'll have a future, and things _will_ be okay. There are reasons for you to wake up, you are needed whether you think you are or not. So you _need_ to stop looking backwards and look _ahead_, Marisol." The girl moved behind her and she began to panic as the girl let out a grunt and began to push. "So fly, Marisol! Fly!"

"What are you-" Suddenly there was wind in her hair and a scream that echoed through the sky. She peered ahead, hoping and praying for something to grab onto. The girl behind her faded away, but she was not aware. She let out a pitiful cry as she began to pick up speed. "Where am I going! Someone catch me!"

_"Only you can catch yourself, Marisol. Trust yourself, you can rely on others, but you must also rely on yourself. Look ahead, do you see anything that can help you?"_

She whimpered and began scanning the surrounding area. Only she could help herself, only she could push forward. This apparition was forcing her to look onward, for fear that if she looked back she would crash into something. "My name isn't Marisol!" Finally she spied something, but she'd have to turn right just a bit. There was a lake in front of her, but off to the right. If she dove in, there could be a number of hazards within it, but she had to take a chance. She needed to try something. "Here goes nothing."

She took a deep breath and twisted her feet towards the right, sending her crashing into the lake. Once in, she began sinking towards the bottom. Her skates vanished and she kicked her feet to reach the surface. After crashing from the water and swimming to shore, she began to realize her body had changed once more. She was now back to her age of thirty, her hair was _dry_ and cloaking her shoulders. She pulled herself up and felt of her clothes, astonished that they too were dry. She was wearing a warm red shirt with long blue jeans. Her pockets jingled with an untold amount of coins.

"Now what?" She was now in the middle of what appeared to be a train station. One person manned the ticket booth, calling out to her for her to take a ticket before it was too late. If the train represented a chance of moving ahead, a chance of taking life by the horns. So appropriately called, the train station was named _Crossroads_.

"Make a decision," The man in the booth said with a deep voice. "Get on the train or do not. It is up to you."

"It's up to me, you say?" She started walking towards him and pressed her lips together in a thin line. "My life I've never been able to make my decisions. Say I wake up, how will that change anything?"

"Move ahead and find out. You have the power to control whether or not you choose to move ahead, or lie sleeping in your own filth."

"Filth?" The word stung her, affecting her deep to the core. It was harsh, but somehow, it rang true. Angry thoughts swirled about her head, but she fought to push them down. She closed her eyes and took a long, slow breath. "If I move ahead, if I have faith in the unknown…what happens?"

"It is easy to fear. It is easy to stay asleep. The hardest thing for anyone to do is to wake up."

"If people depend on me…"

"From this point on, everything that happens, you have the power to decide what way your life will go." The roar of wheels on a track, and the whistle of a train, filled her head. It sounded as though it was coming from all around. When she looked to her right, there it was, a big black train pulling into the station. Her heart yearned for that train, but she was afraid. "You can choose to let your mind focus on all that is behind you, but then those that need you will never have you. Is this what you want?"

"N-No, but…who…"

"Your birth father is there for you. Your mother and siblings are there for you yes, and even the one you love most of all needs you in his life to keep him from sinking under. The sister you never knew…also needs you, she needs you to watch over him."

"What?" She turned to the man, confused by his statement. What sister? She only had two sisters that she ever knew of. "Simone and Helga, they're all I remember."

"Your children will need you as well."

"Children? But…"

"The train is here in the station, will you board it?" She looked over at the train, whining as the conductor started to step out. "Ten cents, it'll cost you."

"If I wake up…what will happen?"

"Will you board the train?"

"Where's that girl that was following me around?" She whimpered once more and frantically glanced about. The man informed her the girl could not make her board the train. She needed to make that choice, and she alone.

"Will you board?"

"Yes…yes I will. Geez…" She pulled her coins from her pocket and tossed them onto the counter, then hurried for the train. She would leave all this behind if she had to, she could do it. She just needed heart, right?

As she entered the train, she suddenly felt all alone. Everyone on board gazed up at her as the door slammed shut behind her. She didn't recognize anyone, but she was unfazed. Without looking behind her, without thinking of all that she used to dwell upon, she was certain that she could be free.

"You're on, Marisol." She quickly looked over to see a woman her age standing in the middle of the aisle. The woman was holding onto the hand of a young, faceless child. This was the same girl that she'd seen before. "I was starting to worry."

"Why do you keep calling me that name? Who are you, exactly? Are _you_ Marisol?"

"No, but there is a little bit of her in all of us." The girl knelt down to her child. Hilda watched the child turn its head towards its mother. "Okay Junior, go play on the train. Mommy needs to talk to this lady." Hilda felt a pit of sadness as she watched the child run off in a hurry. The woman rose up and smiled warmly at her. "Oliver Jr. That was what we were going to call him before I died." Hilda's eyes widened and her body instantly froze in place. "I'm Lilly Truscott."

"A ghost?"

"I prefer spirit. You see, your father is my father." She put her hand to her mouth and fought the urge to faint dead on the spot. Lilly moved over to her and put a hand to her shoulder, gazing strongly into her eyes. "I know you made Oliver happy. After all these years, he laughed and smiled again, because of you. Something I think only my sister could have done." Lilly chuckled softly and lowered a hand. "I know you two can get another chance, and he can learn to move on with his life if you're by his side. Both of you can learn to accept the past for what it is, and move on. Make this old rickety train move. Don't be afraid to look ahead of you. You both need each other. Your families need you, and yes, your children need you."

"We don't have any children."

"You do. Twins…" Hilda's heart began racing as she moved her trembling fingers to her belly. Lilly gave her a brisk nod and moved her arms around her. "I want you to know that I accept you and only you, because you can make him happy. I wish I had known you in life, but my life was taken because of a very greedy man. Make sure Oliver understands and realizes, there is nothing he, or Miley could have done to save me. I was dead the minute Chogan thought about taking my life to control Oliver…It would have happened regardless."

"I'm so sorry…"

"Don't be. Live your life, be happy, and try not to let the past affect you. You have every bit of control over where your life leads you. Maybe some things happened in the past that hurt you, but that's something you can overcome. I _know_ it's scary to think about what lies ahead, but you just have to keep moving with confidence. The world isn't going to stop. Understand also that it's going to be okay. Everything will be okay."

"I know that now." She bowed her head and slowly curled her fingers. "Why do you call me Marisol, though?"

"One day, listen to a song sung by a singer named Emily Osment. Her song, _Marisol_ will explain that. The name is symbolic, and the song tales the tale of a woman with the strength to look into her heart and move on in her life, move away from the dark and broken pieces of her past. We all have that spirit inside of us, Marisol is a part of our souls. It's a symbol of peace, of freedom. Remember the name Marisol.""

"I…okay I will remember that. Thank you Lilly." Lilly smiled at her and winked once.

"Don't thank me yet, we're not done here. You still have to make the train move." Hilda sighed in exasperation. To make the train move meant one thing, she needed to wake up. This was no easy task.

"Oh great…"

"You can do it Hilda. Reach for what you want and take it."

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I hope you enjoyed the chapter, let me know what you thought. There's quite a bit of symbolism and so forth.

(As promised, here are the lyrics to the song. Search for it on youtube and listen to it there, it really is a good song)

Emily Osment  
Marisol lyrics

She held her face while she cried  
She told herself, "Girl you'll be just fine."  
She doesn't know just where she belongs  
But for now she's got to run  
She kept her dreams inside for so long, for so long  
There's nowhere left to hide, she's held on for so long

And she picks up all the scattered pieces of her life  
She lifts up, Marisol, Marisol, Marisol take flight  
She finds that all she needs is in her heart  
She lifts up, Marisol, Marisol, Marisol take flight  
And all the world is hers tonight  
Marisol, it'll all be all right

With nothing but her pocket change  
She makes her move, she heads to the train  
She's staring at her shoes, and fighting off negative thoughts in the rain  
Counting to ten inside, she discovers another  
Way to put it out of her mind and recover, recover

And she picks up all the scattered pieces of her life  
She lifts up, Marisol, Marisol, Marisol take flight  
She finds that all she needs is in her heart  
She lifts up, Marisol, Marisol, Marisol take flight  
And all the world is hers tonight  
Marisol, it'll all be all right

Marisol got away, got away  
Marisol got it her way, her way

And she's searching through the faces of the crowded streets  
She doesn't know a single soul, but she feels so free  
And this feeling and her courage are all she needs  
And she flies, and she flies  
Ohh, ohh, ohhh

And she picks up all the scattered pieces of her life  
She lifts up, Marisol, Marisol, Marisol take flight  
She finds that all she needs is in her heart  
She lifts up, Marisol, Marisol, Marisol take flight  
And all the world is hers tonight  
Marisol, it'll all be all right


	51. His Lowest Point

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N: This chapter, I'm going to do something that I've never done before. Bear with me. A song will also appear this chapter (That's not what I've never done though) Obviously I don't own the song.

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Chapter 51 (His Lowest Point)

Oliver trudged along the California streets, having opted to leave Chogan in his mansion in New York. He was in mourning, and recalling all that he lost there. His father and brother, long gone. The memories of Miley and Lilly, nevermore. Hilda, god only knew where she was taken and if she were still alive either. Now Chogan activated the disks, and so many innocent lives were going to end all because he let the man convince him that there was no other route. Granted, he wasn't too sure that there _wasn't_ another route.

He pushed his hands into his pockets and felt a tear sweep his cheek. His eyes clenched shut as he slowly leaned against a brick wall. His eyes peered out at a beach, it wasn't the same beach that he knew of years before, but it was enough to bring those memories to his mind. His chest ached and a whimper strained his throat, piercing from his lips. Now even Rico was gone, or at least, he wanted nothing to do with Oliver or the Black Dragons. Ciara Anderson apparently chopped off his balls. Then there was Miley and Rudy, neither would ever talk to him again, he was certain. "God I fucked everything up…"

_You spin around like a broken record  
it plays your name everytime the needle skips  
it's been that way since the last december  
i can't live like this anymore  
you're stuck inside every conversation  
yes i know that you're really good and gone  
but i'm a slave to this obsession  
how can i move on  
you're in my thoughts, in my head, in my heart, in my dreams  
and i wish you would stop haunting me_

_"Rico's hot dogs, just five bucks!" Rico called out, a rip-off price. Oliver stared at him while Lilly shook her head. He pointed towards them with a hotdog, offering it up. "You two can get the lover's special, I'll take it down to four dollars and fifty cents just for you!" _

_ "How is that any better?" Lilly asked. She jerked her thumb towards the nearest gas station and smirked at Rico. "I'll just buy two hotdogs for a dollar over there at the Shell station." Rico glared at the station and threw his bun down on the ground._

_ "Damn gas, always taking my business!" Oliver laughed and glanced over as Jackson headed towards them in a hotdog suit. Rico smacked his hand in the air with a triumphant shout. "Voila! My hotdog man will sell plenty!" _

_ "Give me a break," Jackson scoffed. "This is crap, no one's buying a hotdog, and I'm missing out on all the babes on the beach!"_

_ "I ain't paying you for your lip, Jackson!"_

_ "Son, over here!" Jasper shouted from behind. Oliver turned and smiled at his father and little brother. Lance ran up to him and threw his arms around his waist, laughing happily as their father started for them. "I know you're on a date, but Lance wanted so desperately to see his older brother."_

_ Oliver hugged his brother back and rubbed his hair. "Hey there Lance, how are you doing? Where's your girlfriend?"_

_ "She's not my girlfriend! Brianna's only a good friend."_

_ "And she's always hanging around the house isn't she, Little O_."

Oliver put his hand to his abdomen and groaned in pain as the memory remained. His left hand reached up and clawed his hair as he began to slide along the wall. "Leave me alone…" These people he would never forget, the loves of his life. Now Hilda was likely where Lilly was, his second chance at love, and of course someone took that from him as well. All he wanted to do was forget, all of them, no more thinking or dreaming. No more haunting his mind.

_get out get out  
i can't take it no more  
breathe in breathe out  
cause i die a little every time i think about you  
get out get out  
cause im going crazy  
i scream and shout  
i try everything but you're still here and i can't stop missing you_

He slowly opened his eyes and rose back to his feet, wiping his tears from his face. It was a daily thing now. He pushed his hands into his pockets and slowly walked down the darkened streets. _"How can it be so dark…it's the middle of the afternoon." _He put his hand above his eyebrows and gazed up at the sky. _"Whatever then."_

He passed by an alleyway and peered down to see three people doing some sort of drug deal. At least, he suspected it was. They were wearing hooded jackets and exchanging money while another held onto a bag of white powder. One of the men looked up at him, making him tense up. The man looked almost exactly like Ernesto, but that was impossible. He took one step forward as the man glared at him. "What are you looking at!" The man shouted. Oliver pulled back into reality and cleared his throat.

"Sorry I uh…nevermind…" He moved backwards and started to walk away, stopping only as a vision of Ernesto appeared beside him. Ernesto's hand rested upon his shoulder and his lips were curved up into a wide grin.

_"Hey Oliver, Hilda bet Rin and Fan that she can beat them at a sled race! Want to go watch! The girls are changing right now, want to go peek, Dylan's already headed that way?"_

Oliver chuckled as Ernesto started to snicker and fade away. In front of him appeared Hilda and Rin holding towels up to cover their bodies.

_"Eek! No peeking!" Hilda screamed out. "Una! Fan!" _

That always meant trouble whenever those two had to be called in. He chuckled softly and bowed his head as his heart began to thump erratically in his chest.

_ooh yeah  
the way i feel everytime you're with me  
how you say it all without a word  
i keep hearing time heals everything so tell me why does it still hurt  
like you only just told me goodbye and i can't get you out of my mind_

_get out get out_  
_i can't take it no more_  
_breathe in breathe out_  
_cause i die a little every time i think about you_  
_get out get out_  
_cause im going crazy_  
_i scream and shout_  
_i try everything but you're still here and i can't stop missing you_

His mother raised him better than this, but then, she hardly raised him at all. Behind him he was certain he heard Lance's voice, aged and matured, but he put it out of his head. "Oliver? Is that you? Oh my god, I wasn't doing what you think. Oliver?" He broke off into a run, hoping to escape the voice. His face darkened and his ears listened to the sound of running footsteps, or was it merely his heartbeat?

Oliver hopped a fence, running through the park, then ducking beneath a bridge. Someone had been pursuing him, footsteps trailed over the bridge and away. He ran his hands through his face and shook his head, weeping silently. This wasn't just a trip down memory lane, it was a fucking nightmare.

He wanted it though, that one final journey to his old home. He wanted to see how things had turned out, but he only realized ghosts remained. Everyone haunted him as apparitions, and he just wanted to _forget_.

This was his goodbye.

_i hate to love you  
i hate to let you go  
you're good at leaving  
but i'm no good alone_

"I'm sorry Lilly that I let my anger get the better of me. I'm sorry Hilda, for dragging you into all of this. God knows I love you, I loved both of you…" He curled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around his legs, glaring down at his feet with no particular emotion aside from his own grief. "Miley, I never should have let Chogan convince me to take you. Lance, Dad, I am _so sorry_. So fucking sorry…" He bowed his head into his knees and started to weep. "Ernesto, my best friend. I'll be with you soon…but please, just stop haunting me so I can…so I can say goodbye."

He slowly moved his right hand towards his belt, whimpering as he paused it still. _"How's Brianna, Lance? I hope you're happy with her."_ His trembling fingers lifted his shirt, revealing a black handle tucked into his jeans. He gripped it firmly and pulled out what appeared to be a small handgun. He eyed it with a sinking feeling in his gut. Sweat dripped along his neck while he attempted to steady his ever shaking hands. _"I'm so sorry…for the things I've done…I never wanted it to end this way."_ Tears drenched his red-stained cheeks as he quickly moved the nozzle of the gun below his chin. He clenched his eyes shut and let out a powerful shout as his lungs flared up with fire. "I never wanted it to end like this! I deserve this…"

_get out get out  
i can't take it no more  
breathe in breathe out  
cause i die a little every time i think about you  
get out get out  
cause im going crazy  
i scream and shout  
i try everything but you're still here and i can't stop missing you_

_get out get out_  
_breathe in breathe out_  
_you spin around like a broken record_  
_it plays your name everytime the needle skips…skips…skips…skips…skips_

His eyes shot open as his finger clung loosely on the trigger. A whimper left his lips and he slowly pulled the gun down. Nearby, a church bell began to chime. "I deserve this…" He slowly looked towards the gun. The bell struck one more time. His body started to relax and a heavy feeling descended upon him. "Why? Why can't I…" He lifted his gaze up towards the church bell on opposite side of the street towards the left of the park. "All I wanted was my family. I didn't want to be alone. When he said…when he said Lance and Dad were dead…" Now he was losing the one family he truly held dear to his heart.

The church bell rang again, urging him to stand. He looked towards the gun in his hand and slowly rose to his feet. He pushed the weapon back into place and started making his way to the church without any clue as to why he would want to go there.

When he put his hand to the doorknob, he thought he heard someone softly humming that song sung by singer Mitchel Musso, _Get Out_. He winced and pushed open the door. He gasped as the sunlight lit up the foyer inside. The aisle shot past several empty brown pews, finally intersecting the stage where a large cross shot up from the center.

"What good is being here?" He swept his thumb through his eyes and sat at the front pew. He gazed up at the cross, feeling his heavy heart starting to sink down. "What is wrong with me? Aren't you here? Why aren't you here!"

"He's always here," A voice replied. Oliver leapt up from his seat and turned around, squinting his eyes at a man his height in the sunlit doorway. The man had dark brown hair that moved down to his chin, was wearing some sort of black robe, and had a strange earring on his right lobe. "I'm surprised to see someone else here at this time." The man walked forward and Oliver tensed up, recognizing this man who looked remarkably similar to him, but was nothing like him.

"Impossible…" It was Mitchel Musso himself, but how could he not be affected by those devices? "The stuff going on with the news…you're not…" Mitchel lifted his shoulders and waved his hand through the air.

"Nah. You know what they're saying about all that? The Black Dragons had these whack-job bodyguards…I never hired anyone from them, even though they're supposed to have been these highly prestigious protectors and whatnot. Needless to say…" The star tugged his jacket and chuckled nervously. "I'm not one of the ones that's headed to death…" The man sat beside him and put his hands to his knees, staring up in silence at the cross. "When I first came to California, first lived around this area, this was my church. So whenever I visit this area, I come here around this time, usually no one else is here…"

"I see…" He couldn't believe the man was really here with him. Musso was one of his favorite singers, well _Disney_-wise at least. There weren't many good Disney singers. "I'm…glad to see you're all right. I mean, with all the singers that are at risk."

"Honestly, I wish I could do something about it. I can't, all I can do is sit here and pray." Mitchel closed his hands and pulled his lips back into a frown. "Some very close friends of mine are out there, and I'd rather it be me instead of them."

"I heard someone singing your song just before I came in-"

"Yeah that was me. I felt that song fits the moment, or at least my mood. It isn't ever good to feel like you're alone in the world." He scoffed and shook his head. "Would you believe, I'm one of the few people who _wasn't_ forced by their producer or manager to hire on one of those Dragon thugs?"

"You don't consider that a good thing?"

"Should I? Should I consider it a blessing that I'm alive while all of my friends risk death?" Oliver bowed his head and put his hand over the bulge that the gun was creating beneath his shirt. "It would be wrong of me to consider it that, but I think it would be wrong for me to wish myself dead because of it. You know?"

"I'm not sure…"

"Think about it this way. You have people you love, your friends, and they pass on or something happens…would they want you to dwell on them, or would they want you to move on with your life and try to be happy regardless?"

"What if you don't deserve happiness? What if you don't deserve to live?"

"Now that…I don't think that's up to us." Oliver raised an eyebrow as the singer turned his gaze back up to the cross, smiling warmly. "I believe there is a higher power out there, and that higher power has a will for all of us, a purpose. Now if we were to cut ourselves down, where's the joy in that? We'll never know what it was we were meant to do in life, and we'll never truly know what this higher power wants for us. We will have taken their job of judging us and judged ourselves. Sometimes it's hard to see what's going on when you're dwelling on the past. You just have to hope for a future, you know?"

"Everyone I ever cared about is gone. Or at least, it seems that way. You're telling me that my being alive while they're not…"

"I'm not saying anything." Mitchel shrugged his shoulders and leaned back, moving his hands behind his head, smiling gently. "Maybe things aren't as they seem. Maybe there's more to it than what you think…Instead of dwelling on what you've done, your past, instead of dwelling on those friends of yours that are long gone…live for them. Live for that higher power. Live for yourself."

"It's too late. What I've done…can't be undone, can it?"

"Well we're all sinners, you know. God, He'll forgive you if it's in your heart. You just have to think with your heart for once, Oliver. Live your life, you might be surprised to find things are _not_ what you have been told. You can change things, you can change things for yourself, and can give yourself a good future…you just have to have hope and believe in something. Don't ever give up on yourself, keep fighting, you know?"

"Yeah…" Mitchel rose to his feet and pat his shoulder, then began to walk from the dusty pews. Oliver watched him move from the door, then slowly shook his head. That song had been playing a lot longer than when he arrived at the church, someone had been singing it the minute he arrived there at the beach.

He looked up at the cross and closed his eyes, letting his body tremble and his lips quiver. "It's been a long time, God…the things I've done, I know…I'm living with them now. I don't know if forgiveness is possible, but if what he said is true, and you could find it in you…in you to help me…maybe…God, I don't know. I don't know what to _say_." He curled in and started to weep. What could he do? He was lost, so close to taking his own life. What advice would Mitchel have, other than to say for him to live his own life or to change the way things were.

As he wiped his eyes once again he started to think on the conversation. He looked back at the door and frowned. Before the singer left, he called him by name, but Oliver never _told_ him his name.

He hurried to his feet and started walking towards the door, stopping once his eyes caught something in one of the pews. A newspaper clipping with a picture of Mitchel Musso. Had someone been reading in church? It was believable, especially with all the stuff going on these days. He carefully picked up the paper, and what he read chilled him to the bone.

_A star fades in Hollywood. _

_ Mitchel Musso was found dead on the shores of California. Reportedly he tried to rouse fellow singers Emily Osment, Hilary Duff, and actor Shia Lebouf from their hypnosis. He was among the few actors to not fall victim to the hypnosis and to attempt to free their friends, but in doing so, he was shoved beneath the ocean tides and trampled by those who were under hypnosis. His act of valor will not be forgotten, even though it ended in death, he will be remembered among those who attempted to rescue the stars and to hope for a change._

The paper fell from Oliver's hands and hit the ground. He started to whimper, fighting the urge to fall down and cry like a little baby. Never before had he believed in ghosts, never before had he believed in spirits, but now he was questioning everything.

The message surely wouldn't be forgotten, but he was still uncertain as to what he should do. If he could do anything, of course. Tears welled up in his eyes as he slowly pulled his gun from his pocket. No, Mitchel's advice was somehow speaking to him. _Nothing is always as it seems_. What did that mean? He removed the bullets from the barrel and dumped the gun itself into the paper filled trashcan at the door. As he walked from the church, he gripped the bullets firmly in his hands and gazed off at the sky.

Oliver tossed the bullets across the street, watching them bounce into a small pond. Maybe he wouldn't kill himself, not yet at least. Though, he did want to at least talk to Chogan. He needed to know if there was any significance to anything in his vision.

That is, if the man would even bother talking to him or opening that door for him.

* * *

This was a very tense chapter to write, and emotional. There is only one thing in this chapter (aside from the three gangsters and the star's apparition) that isn't a hallucination. What did you think of the ghost, what did you think of the chapter in general? Oliver's definitely hit his lowest point


	52. Closing Shop

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 52 (Closing Shop)

Rudy moved casually about the mall with his sister. People were happy to see him back, but life appeared to still be going on as normal as the day he left. The only thing that changed was Phil's shop, and that was where he was going. He wanted to talk to the man, to find out what went wrong and why he did what he did. Jack and the others refused to talk to him, but they did forgive him for the betrayal. However, he lost several loyal friends and customers in the act. In Rudy's mind, he was fortunate enough that Jack had enough heart not to kill him.

The store was closed, but he unlocked the door with a key Phil had given him a long time ago. Inside, the place felt empty and desolate. The shelves and the counter were bare and cold. The walls and floor were clean, but not due to a recent cleaning. Some of the booths were missing, and there were no smells associated with a goat in the back room. Something was amiss here, and he didn't know what.

Footsteps in the back room beckoned him, so he turned his gaze towards the door with deep sorrow as Phil walked out. Phil looked up at him and his eyes grew large. "Rudy, y-you're safe! What are you doing here? I'm closed…" Rudy lifted his hand as Miley slowly moved to one of the tables still there. Phil glanced at her and raised his eyebrows. "Who is she?"

"She's my sister." He sat beside her at the booth and looked around the area. "Phil, I was wondering…if you haven't shut down completely, maybe you could get us something to eat. Some soda too, Miley hasn't had a decent root beer in twelve years. Please?" Phil rubbed his neck and looked back at the kitchen, muttering slightly. He could tell Phil was uncomfortable, but he just wanted to see if the man still had enough _care_ to do the job. "Is something wrong?"

"No, I'll get you something. It's just…most of my stuff I've already packed away. I have some root beer in the fridge, and I guess I can make some hamburgers real quick." Rudy smiled at him and looked over to Miley. She had been pretty hungry, even still, she was enjoying the life of freedom and eating almost anything she got her hands on. Praise the lord for metabolism.

"That'd be great. I'd appreciate that." As Phil moved to the back room, Rudy crossed his arms and leaned back. Amanda wanted to come with them, but the hospital took priority, which was understandable. She really wanted to get back to her patients and make sure they were okay, let them know she hadn't abandoned them in their time of need. It had only been a few days since they were freed, but the CIA and Military were _still_ having some trouble tracking the machines. Not to mention the tedious task of locating the families of the other prisoners, what families were left, that is, and Jack's crew was in charge of helping locate these missing relatives.

For instance, William and Peter had lost their mother and father in captivity, the only _known_ relative of them was their uncle, Chogan. Since their father was an only child, they did think to look around for their grandparents and let them know they were still alive. Will was also receiving help from the CIA to make a move to Pittsburg, as Miley wanted him there for her. Pete, while he wanted to be with his older brother, wanted to find his grandparents and perhaps take care of them if they were in need. The two boys were going to go back to college, and Will was strongly considering the military.

As for Barbara, Martin, Eddie, and Debbie were going to help her get back on her feet. Her entire family, parents and grandparents, were dead. Unfortunately the CIA _did_ find their records, and Matata was assumed responsible for their demise. The only other person was Lisa, and the _CIA_ was having _trouble_ locating her family! They weren't assumed dead, but it was like they'd dropped off from the face of the earth.

Miley leaned up against the wall and turned her eyes towards him. "I hope they find everyone's homes. I mean obviously they've found most, but surely there's some relatives still out there. Being rescued after all those years only to find out that your family may have died while you were in captivity…it's just…it's almost too much. We were lucky enough to still have our uncles…"

"I know what you mean, and I'm confident they have family somewhere. Amanda doesn't have any family other than her patients, but the others…Barbara and Lisa ought to have family _somewhere_." Miley tapped the side of her head and moved her eyes towards the back room, shrugging her shoulders.

"I remember many years ago Barbara said she had a boyfriend before she was captured, but Matata killed the man. She had a baby too…that man, however…" Rudy's stomach twisted in disgust as Miley shivered. She needn't go on about what happened to the baby, he was already picturing the grief in his mind.

"At least she has someone to help her. Like Amanda has us." In the corner of his eye, Phil was moving towards the table with a tray of food, and two root beers. He was surprised with how fast the food had been cooked. "That was pretty quick." Phil in the booth across from them and shrugged his shoulders.

"I was making a few hamburgers for myself as it was," he replied. Rudy watched Miley grab one of the hamburgers and bring it to her lips. "I hope you enjoy them." She practically inhaled it, taking her second bite only seconds after her first, followed quickly by her third bite. Rudy smiled and grabbed one for himself, Phil did the same. "What brings you here anyway? I don't suppose you've come to try and stop me from leaving…"

Rudy stopped his hamburger just below his lips, eyeing it hungrily. His stomach growled furiously, begging him to take that first bite. He paused still to answer Phil. "No. If leaving the shop is something you feel like doing, then that's your decision, and I'll respect that." He was surprised to hear Phil was considering such a thing, but he understood it. Hell, if he had to betray Jack and the others, he probably wouldn't want to show his face around them either. "I know what happened between you, Jack, and Kim. I guess what I'm here for is just that, I want to know why you did what you did…" The man's face dropped and Rudy took a slow bite of his hamburger, chewing carefully and waiting for him to respond to his statement.

"It was a mistake, Rudy. Frank and Lonnie offered me money and I took it. I didn't think about what would happen, and certainly I didn't know they were trying to _kill_ Jack and Kim." Rudy took a look into his eyes, studying for emotion. The man's tone was laced with guilt and sorrow, and his eyes seemed to tell the same tale. "I know I broke a trust with them, and I'm sorry."

"They don't trust you anymore…"

"I know."

"At least you're able to acknowledge you screwed up." This man wouldn't do the same thing twice at least, but damn was he gullible. How much money was given? Hopefully Phil wasn't spending what was likely to be 'blood money'. "So how much money was offered?" Phil lifted his shoulders and bowed his head.

"They gave me a couple thousand." He glanced over to Miley, who was practically finished with her hamburger. It saddened him deeply that Phil would have accepted _anything_. What if Colt hadn't found them?

"You know, if those Black Dragons succeeded and got Jack and Kim…if my uncle never found us, then we wouldn't have stood much chance of getting off that island, Phil." Phil winced at him. Rudy gazed into his eyes and started to clear his throat. "That money is blood money. The way I see it, the best options are to give it to the military, the CIA, or charity. Somewhere it can actually help someone, because if you spend that on yourself…then you're spending money that was meant to kill someone."

"I know…that's why I didn't spend it. Would the Military or CIA have more use for it?"

"Probably. They can always put it in their treasury or whatever."

"Rudy I'm really sorry. You have to believe me, I never meant any harm."

"I know, Phil. I know…" He really felt pity for the guy rather than anything else, but he wouldn't hold it against him. He was sad that Phil wanted to leave, and to go where, only he knew. It would be hard to find another typical hangout place. "I think you will be missed. Emotions have run real thin lately, but after a while, people are going to miss you…" He took another bite of his hamburger and felt Miley lean against him as she sipped on her own soda. "How is it, Miles?"

"Damn good!" Miley enthused. He chuckled and moved his arm around her shoulders in a one armed hug. Her eyes lit up and she continued sipping down the soda, taking a break for air only for a moment. "God it's been so long. You try being held in a place for twelve years and never able to drink or eat the things you enjoy, and then all this won't look so insane." Phil smiled at the siblings and Miley quickly glanced down to her stomach. "I just hope I don't get too overweight or anything."

"Well you do have to take it carefully. If you eat too much, more than your body can handle, you'll get sick."

Phil ran his hand over his head and exhaled slowly. "I'm glad you two are safe, Rudy. I really am. It's good to meet your sister, and I wish you two the best of luck." Rudy smiled at him and started to set his hamburger back down onto the plate. "I do have a question. Will your sister ever sing again?" Miley's eyes bugged out and she immediately began coughing on her drink. Rudy sighed and pat her back. They hadn't really talked about the singing career, but he was pretty sure it was the last thing she wanted to do.

"I'm never going on stage again," Miley sneered. "As far as I'm concerned, and as far as the world is concerned, Hannah Montana is _dead._ She killed my friend."

"Okay relax sis…" He rubbed her back a bit more and Phil looked apologetically at him. Miley inhaled and closed her eyes. He watched a tear escape along her cheek and grabbed a napkin for her to wipe her tears. She took it and set it down in front of her, shaking her head.

"If it wasn't for me being Hannah Montana, Lilly might still be alive. Daddy might still be alive. If it wasn't for Hannah Montana, Oliver might never have let himself get dragged into the Black Dragons. If not for _her_, all these celebrities in the world would still be going about their daily lives normally! Not walking and swimming to their deaths…it's all my fault…"

"No it isn't. You didn't do a thing wrong, Miley." He needed to think of another subject, and fast. As he glanced out the window, he saw Officer Joan waving from outside. Another person of the mall that was happy to see him back, no less. He cleared his throat and looked back to Miley. "Have you given any thought to college, Sis? I know you graduated from high school just before the abduction, so there's no need to worry about that…"

"Yeah." Miley held her head and rubbed her temples, groaning softly. Rudy's chest tightened and he slowly looked down at the table, closing up his hands. She wasn't the only one that felt riddled with guilt, but at least he could fight that guilt. It was his duty, his _responsibility_ now to take care of her. He could pay for her college, since after the abduction, he put all their money away in a safety deposit box. So anything from her days as Hannah Montana would definitely help that. "I'm not sure what I want to do, to be honest. A lot of things…I don't know…Luanne says I shouldn't consider CIA." She chuckled and rubbed her neck. He leaned sideways and sighed with relief, the whole CIA thing he would be _glad_ if she didn't go into. It was far too dangerous, he didn't want to lose her again after getting her back. "Blood makes me queasy, so being an RN like Amanda would just be _too much_. Maybe teaching."

"You could be a choir teacher, Miley." It was a thoughtful idea, but he wasn't so sure she'd like it. If she never wanted to be a singer, why would she want to teach choir? "Or a music teacher even, but perhaps an art degree would be nice."

"Choir…maybe a vocal coach…I don't think I would mind teaching _others_. I just don't want to sing, personally. I don't feel comfortable."

"That's your choice. You don't have to sing if you don't want to. I don't know if you'll want to talk to the press either, you don't need to."

"If there's anything like that, I don't want to be involved."

"I understand." She basically wanted to remain out of the public's eye, from what he understood. He could easily guarantee this, especially if she opted out of letting the world know Hannah Montana was safe. "Once the CIA's finished exhuming the bodies from the camp, we'll know when Dad's funeral service is. You'll be okay going?"

"Yeah…"

"Glad to hear it." Rudy took another bite of his sandwich and flicked his eyes towards Phil. The man was starting to get up, and it was possible he wanted to close up pretty soon here. "Phil, where will you go after this?"

"I don't know, maybe to my home country." He turned his sad eyes away and started moving towards the back room. "There's not much left for me here. When you're done eating, Rudy, lock up and leave. I'm moving everything out the back door. You guys won't see me again, all right?"

"All right man…" It was a shame, losing two good friends at the mall. Lonnie and Phil. He did have more crucial things to worry about, though, so it wasn't like he wouldn't have something to do. "See you around then, Phil…"

"Right. Goodbye Rudy." It was for the best, anyway. There was nothing he could do to convince Phil to stay, and why should he? Jack and the others would be tense whenever he was around, and he probably wouldn't be able to get over his emotions of guilt.

"Yeah…it's for the best."

* * *

Many things discussed here, what caught your attention? How do you feel about Phil's solution


	53. Demands

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 53 (Demands)

Chogan glared in silence at the machine while sitting absently in a recliner chair he'd brought in. He had a newspaper in his lap, and it was basically filled with news regarding the celebrities. He had an inkling that something would go wrong, and already knew Oliver _probably_ would try to get him to turn off the machine. He hoped not, but if it turned out that Oliver wanted to put an end to all of this, then he had a backup plan.

In his lap was a small chip, also created by the scientists. It was a mind control chip. It was not nearly as strong as the hypnosis the celebrities were under, but just as good at controlling someone to get what you wanted, and he wanted Oliver to stay out of the way. All he had to do was plant the chip to Oliver's forehead. He didn't _want_ to do it, but he feared his influence over Oliver was waning, and he'd gotten so far. People feared the Black Dragons now, he got what he wanted in the end. Though he was conflicted, how could he do something like that to the boy?

It infuriated him when his island had been raided and the prisoners there had been freed. He was unable to find them, unable to find Dylan, Rin, or Fan, and was sure Hilda was still alive and protected _somewhere_ in the world. He'd tried to forcefully abort those children in her womb, or at least kill her, if it made Oliver furious at the world once more. Sure he didn't like to hurt the guy _now_, but sometimes it was all a matter of doing what you have to do in order to get what you wanted.

The celebrities were only because he couldn't think of anyone else to use to instill fear into the world. It wasn't until the death of Lilly Truscott and Oliver's anger at his dear friend Miley that Chogan even thought to play off that and target the celebrities. Sadly, it had been easy to convince a man who believed he lost his father and brother, along with his pregnant fiancé. Yes, he played him like the chords of an organ, and sure he felt bad about it now, but the deed had already been done.

"Assuming he ever finds out I was lying to him, I guess I'll have to deal with it then."

Suddenly a loud tapping noise came from the door, he shot up and looked back with narrow eyes. His face softened when he recognized Oliver's voice, calling for him to open the door. Casually he moved over and unlocked the door, smiling at him. "What is the problem, Oliver? You know I don't want you in here…" Oliver brushed past him and folded his arms over.

"I think we should turn off the machine." His face fell and he closed his eyes, wincing slightly at the thought of ending their mission now. "I know you wanted the Black Dragons to be feared, but Chogan…more than enough has happened. There's no reason to take all these lives." He was shocked into silence, struggling hard to come up with a response. What could have made Oliver think this way? Granted he'd been thinking this way for a while now, but in all honesty, Chogan never believed he would actually come to this conclusion on his own. All the other captains were the ones trying to get him to come around, besides Matata of course.

"Oliver, what's gotten into you? Why do you feel this way so suddenly?"

"It's not a sudden thing really." He watched Oliver walk across the room, sighing heavily. His suspicious eyes were glued onto the younger man, he should have known Oliver's heart would soften with Hilda's influence, as well as the others. "I mean I've never been as into all of this as you, Chogan. You know that." Oliver scoffed sadly and brushed is hand through his hair, gazing mournfully out the window. "I can't stand it. That I'm losing my family again…I mean Rin and Dylan are safe, I think Fan is too. Ernesto and Hilda, however…and even Una…I miss them all. I_ know_ I can't ever see Dylan or Rin again, at least I don't think so. If we continue down this path we're probably going to die, but someone told me…someone told me we can change it. We can control the fate." Chogan raised an eyebrow and started moving towards him with a slow gait. Who had he talked to that helped him to arrive at this conclusion?

"Oliver we've come so far, too far. You want to back down _now_?" Oliver turned to him. He studied Oliver's eyes and body language carefully. He was managing to retain his own aggression, though this situation was agitating him severely. He felt like punching through a wall. "If we stop now, the world will think the Black Dragons will just give up."

"It isn't like you've made demands…I get you want to dominate everything, but seriously…it's now the sixteenth, it's been two weeks. People are dying out there. This isn't what Hilda wanted, this isn't what any of them wanted…I know you and Matata hardened yourself so much that no one could penetrate, but…that isn't me."

"I know. They touched you." He clicked his tongue and started to walk around Oliver, holding his hands behind his back. He tapped his wrist on his waistline and bowed his head. His heart was falling to pieces as he mourned for Oliver. "You've always had a soft heart, minimally hardened. I don't know, it was easy for Hilda and your best friends to soften you up." Oliver chuckled softly as Chogan stopped moving behind him. He started to reach down to his own waist, sliding his fingers along the handle of his scalping knife. His eyes moved to the quiver of arrows on a desk at the other end of the room. He wouldn't possibly kill Oliver, he couldn't do such a thing. "Love has a funny way of influencing people. Love and family are the greatest influences of all.

At his waist, beside his scalping knife, was a wooden flask that used to contain some drinking water. "Yeah, that is true." Closing his eyes, he gripped the flask and silently pulled it from his belt. He raised it up in the air and inhaled.

"Forgive me," he whispered. Before Oliver could turn, he brought the flask down onto Oliver's head. The man let out a shout and fell towards the ground. "I won't turn off the machine now, Oliver. I'm sorry." He tossed the flask to the side, then straddled Oliver with his knees, pinning the mind control chip onto Oliver's forehead. He clenched his teeth and pressed hard, his eyes welling up with tears. "Someone will have to knock this off or influence you out of the mind control if you want to be freed…but I am sorry…"

He hopped off Oliver and slowly shook his head as the man stood behind him. Oliver's eyes were cloudy, blank, and his face emotionless. "What are your orders?" Chogan lifted his head up and looked out at the ceiling. He didn't know what to have Oliver do at this point. Hell, he was only sitting around, to be honest. He was to wait until every last blip on the map vanished, meaning all celebrities would finally be dead. "Whatever it takes, I will do, give me your orders." Frowning, he glanced over his shoulder. His stomach was churning with disgust and self hate. He tried to fight the urge to vomit, but it was difficult.

"Oliver, just stand guard at the front door. If anyone tries to enter, find out who they are and what they want. If they're a threat to our cause, destroy them." Oliver nodded and started to turn towards the door. His body was stiff, chest puffed out, and head held high.

"I'll do it." There shouldn't be any dangers, but all Chogan really wanted was for Oliver to stay out of the way. Now wasn't the time for weakness, now wasn't the time to try and back down. He didn't like to go back on his word.

As Oliver left the room, Chogan moved towards the monitor on the screen. He flipped over to the news report and sighed. The sight was still the same, helicopters were flying over all the actors and singers, trying to figure out what was going on and how to help them while reporting to the various countries. Eyes were on all over the world.

The President himself, and all the World Leaders, had issued a statement for all of this tragedy, but it wouldn't do any good. He clicked a button to put him through to the World Leaders. The President's face appeared on the screen. Behind the President and the World Leaders were military officers as well as CIA agents. "What are your demands?" The President asked in a hurried, rushed tone. "What will it take to make you turn off the machine? What will it take to save all these innocent lives?"

"Innocent? How can you call _celebrities_ innocent?" He scoffed and brandished his hand through the air. The President narrowed his eyes and cleared his throat.

"In wake of this tragedy, they are not just celebrities, they are our fellow human beings. They have lives, families, and people who wish to see them unharmed. Release them…please." Chogan tapped his chin and smirked at the man, slowly shaking his head.

"Nah, but if you give me the world…I will consider it." The World leaders gasped at him. He shrugged his shoulders and rolled his eyes, was it _really_ all that much of a shock that he'd want the world? "Look, obviously you world leaders aren't doing shit for this planet if you can't even keep people like me from throwing a massive wrench in your plans. I want every lip and every house to utter the Black Dragons with fear. If you don't want to die, give me full control of this globe."

"You are asking quite a lot. Will you release them from their hold if we are willing to _discuss_ these demands?" He raised an eyebrow and guffawed at the man.

"What do you take me for, a senile old idiot? I know the games you play, I know the _tricks_ you play!" He narrowed his eyes as the man seemed to shrink on the screen. This man was merely a coward as far as he was concerned, there was no way in hell he was giving up the plan for a cheap-ass attempt at 'discussion'. "You think you can fool me by pretending you'll 'discuss' these demands so that I can free them? Well I have news for you, unless this machine is destroyed, I can press this button as many times as I like and throw them _all_ under hypnosis again!"

The President growled ferociously as the Japanese ruler shot up from his own seat and started yelling at the screen. He craved this ferocity, to get beneath the skin of the world rulers was the most satisfying feeling he'd ever had. His lips grew into a wide grin as the rest of the world rulers started to appear disheveled and frustrated. He started to laugh and soon crossed his arms.

"That's right, I'm not giving it up anytime soon." He flicked his eyes to the news screen and huffed, somehow this was airing on the news station? He narrowed his eyes, a slow buzzing noise had been irritating his eardrums for the past minute or two and he'd been ignoring it for the most part. He shifted his eyes to the blinking light at the top of the machine and locked his jaw tight. Could he be traced?

"Mark my words," The President muttered, his muscles tense and his face tight with a calm vengeance. "We will not stand down. We will not give up and we will _not_ relinquish our positions for you. We will find you and we will fight you."

"Find me, huh?" Typically only a minute was needed to trace someone, he was being _stalled! _His eyes widened and his lips parted. "Shit!" Frustration shot through him as he slammed his hand on the keypad and shut off the feed. "Fuck, I could have been traced!" He thumbed his forehead and moaned as he moved back to his seat. He hoped he wasn't traced, and if he were, he needed to think of a way to figure out if that happened. He couldn't leave the area, the machine was _not_ portable and was rather fragile. "If they traced me, I'm screwed…"

* * *

So tell me your thoughts. Oliver tried to stop it, apparently, but Chogan had just another trick up his sleeve. On the plus side, Chogan may be traced


	54. Preparations for War

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 54 (Preparing for War)

Eddie came running into the dojo where Jack and the others were sparring with one another. It had been far from a 'calm' week, but at least they'd been able to relax in Pittsburg while helping Rudy get his house in order, and Ciara to get settled into _her_ new home with Kim. Of course, Ciara had brought her daughter with her, and her husband would be joining them when he returned from overseas.

Just before Eddie had come bursting in, catching everyone's attention, they'd all been enamored with the tiny infant in the room that was being cradled in Kim's arms. Ciara's daughter, Tiphanie, whom Kim had never actually met. "Sorry to interrupt," Eddie spoke with a rapid, breathless tone. "I just caught the news on the way over, Chogan was having a session of back and forth with the President." Jack raised his eyebrows. It wasn't exactly good news, but it was just news. "The President urged him to turn off the machine, but he's refusing to do so."

"Tell me something I don't know." As depressing as it was, it was all expected. The bad guys usually had demands to make while the good guys tried not to meet them. He would more prefer to have been given the location of Chogan and that machine, he honestly didn't care about a back and forth with the World Leaders. "I can imagine who Chogan will go after next if we don't put a stop to him now." Eddie nodded, then looked to the baby in Kim's arms.

"Aw." Tiphanie was an adorable pink skinned baby with beautiful blonde fuzz on the top of her round head. She wore a peach colored outfit and was wrapped in a yellow towel. "Wait why's Kim holding a baby, does Jack have something to tell us?" He smirked playfully and Jack slowly glared at his poorly timed joke. Kim laughed and Ciara shook her head.

"I sure as hell hope not," Ciara stated, "That's my daughter that Kim's holding. Jack knows damn well what would happen if he decided to get my cousin pregnant." A chill ran along his spine as it often did when she made her 'promises'. Jack put his arm around Kim's shoulder and looked down at the baby.

"One thing's for sure. When this kid grows up, her mother's definitely going to be scaring away all of the men that come around. That is, if the dad doesn't do it first." Kim laughed and handed the baby to her mother. Jack's phone began to ring, so he walked off from the group and answered without hesitation, as the caller was Colt. "What's up?"

"Due to that call Chogan had with the President, if you've seen it, we were able to lock onto his feed. We've got some coordinates and an address for you." Instantly he pumped his fist in the air, he would have cheered out loud, but he didn't want people thinking he was crazy. _Finally_ they had a location! They could put a stop to this damned machine.

"Give us the location, and we'll be there in an instant." He had every reason to be in a hurry. Of course, they might want to strategize first, but they could do that on the plane ride. "I'll call up our pilot, and we'll be on our way."

They arrived just a short hour later, and Kim's aunt decided to stay at the house to watch over baby Tiphanie so Ciara and Kim could make it to this fight. They _all_ wanted to be a part of this. Bobby Wasabi's ninjas had arrived to help against any guards that might be surrounding the perimeter of the mansion. Even General Thompson had arrived to oversee everything.

"Ciara, I have someone here with me," General Thompson said with a smile. Ciara turned around just as her husband, Chance walked out of the General's jet. Her face turned to elation and she quickly ran up to hug him. Jack was happy to see the man was able to make it, to support his wife. Plus, he was excited to see Chance in person.

Chance was a rather intimidating figure, about six feet in hNine and with a strong muscular build. He was in his uniform, a major. His dark brown hair was short and somewhat fuzzy in appearance. "I've missed you," Chance said while kissing the top of her forehead. "When you go in there, Ciara, I know you'll do a good job."

"Yeah well, Jack's leading the team, I'm just the guide." She motioned her head to Jack, who froze once Chance looked over at him. For some reason, he was always at a loss for words around the military. He never knew why, but he attributed it to possibly being star-struck. "He's dating Kim."

"Oh, your cousin?" Chance laughed lightly and smirked at Jack, who was now beginning to shrink. "Treat the girl right Jack, you don't want to upset her family. _Believe me_ on that."

"I know," Jack whimpered. He cleared his throat and exhaled. "I've met the _rest_ of her family. They're all in the law enforcement or military, not to mention, they're all frightening." Ciara smirked and Kim reached over, kissing his cheek. A spark shot through his body and he relaxed into a sigh. "That never gets old though."

"Well…" Chance turned to him and stood at attention, Jack straightened himself and propped his shoulders up, smiling slightly at the man. He did not want to disrespect him. "When you go in there, destroy that machine. I think you know to do that. Make sure everyone is safe, and basically…do treat this as a hostage situation."

"Yes." It basically _was_ a hostage situation, whether or not the hostages were actually on the location didn't mean a thing. Jack looked over his shoulders at the others, everyone was waiting for his orders to get moving. Even the nine ninjas that joined up with them were waiting for him. "Okay when we get to that mansion guys, we want to be careful not to alert a swarm of people. If there are guards around the area, take them out as quietly and carefully as possible."

"Should we split up and meet at another point?" Milton asked. Jack turned to face them and thoughtfully tapped his chin. It would be a good way to travel with as much stealth as possible. "If we split into teams, then we can take any guards around the mansion."

"Right, that's good thinking Milton." He glanced back over his shoulder towards the two military officers. "Will you two be joining us on the battlefield?" General Thompson slowly shook his head and folded his arms over.

"I'm an old man now, if I get out on that field, I'll only be a burden. Also, my grandson arrived only in uniform, he is not ready for battle at this point. The smaller the squad, the better. You have nine able bodied ninjas ready to assist you, Chance and I will be observing as the eye in the sky."

"Fair enough." He turned to the others and closed his eyes. "We will split into five groups of three then. Milton and…" He pointed to one of the stronger built ninjas and motioned him over. "You, you two are with me. We need to utilize the ninjas." The others agreed, letting him continue on without trouble. "Kim, Eddie, and the next ninja work as one team." He pointed to a female ninja, she bowed and moved over towards Kim and Eddie. "Ciara, Jerry and a ninja." One more ninja moved over. At this point there were six more ninjas. He wasn't fond of the idea of having a larger group, but unfortunately he did figure there to be leftovers. He was going to pair them off, but thought better of it now that he recalled the hospital issue with the Indians. "Okay, second thought, three groups of five may be a better assembled team. I need two ninjas to join with my team, Kim's team, and Ciara's. From here, we'll go to the mansion discreetly from the back and sides, eventually swinging around towards the front of the building."

"Sounds like a good plan to me," Ciara agreed. His thinking was that if they assaulted the back and the sides, then those watching the front wouldn't have anyone to help them. "If I might make a suggestion however, would it be better if we tried to enter through windows of the place?"

"Good suggestion, but I'm thinking if we wound up doing that, we might set off some alarms that we really don't want to set off." They were so close, so very close, and he didn't want to run the risk of losing at the last moment. If they failed, then everything would be lost. "Let's do this, guys…no matter what happens, we _cannot_ give up…God only knows how many guards he's got surrounding this place."

"Mind if we help?" A familiar voice beckoned from behind. Jack glanced over to see Chase and Davenport walking towards them, he was shocked to see them, but even more shocked to see _Bree _and _Adam_ as well! He gawked at the two and quickly cleared his throat. Chase stood in between his two very pissed siblings and threw his arms around their shoulders, smiling at Jack. "We _finally_ got them to wake up! God I was afraid they'd never wake…Leo and his our stepmom are still asleep though…"

"When we heard what happened we wanted a part in this," Bree admitted. Being the fast one in the family, Jack figured she probably was able to bring her family over one at a time and be done in a matter of minutes. He was a little concerned about how well their Bionic Chips would handle the situation though. "I can't stand that someone made our brother work for the bad guys. Say we can help, I didn't do all that running for nothing…"

"Would you be able to handle it? I know you and Adam have been asleep for many months, so…how well can your chips work?"

"Well enough."

"That's not good enough, I need to be sure that you will be able to carry your own weight and not freeze on the spot because your chip overheats."

"We understand," Chase replied. "Adam and Bree, we've checked their chips and had them do a couple light missions in the training area…they can definitely handle a few guards." Jack rubbed his forehead and sighed, he didn't want to have to reorder the teams. This now made eighteen people, three teams of six was far too many. However, if he understood the bionic chips planted in the trio here, then perhaps the ninjas could do business elsewhere.

"Okay then, here's what we're going to do. The ninjas on each team…I want the first ninjas that I called out on each team to remain where they are. The other two on each team…." The ninjas listened eagerly, ready to accept any order. "Secure the front for us. There are six of you, so not only secure the front, but make sure that if things go wrong, you will hold off the perimeter. Don't let anyone come near the mansion." The ninjas nodded and Jack slowly pointed to the trio. "I'm trusting your fight capabilities here. This is serious business. Bree, you're with Kim and Eddie. Adam, you're with Ciara and Jerry." The two nodded and moved beside their respective teams, with Adam eyeing Ciara's sword with interest. "Yes, stay away from her blade Adam, you do not want to get sliced by that thing. Now Chase, you're with me."

Seeing as how Chase's chip allowed him to at least generate some sort of force field around the group, they could utilize that. Unfortunately, that was the best ability it seemed he had, aside from his smarts. The best fighters now on his team were the ninja and himself. Kim's team now consisted of people that could endure quite a bit of blows, Kim was tough, Eddie was the tank, and Bree was quite literally untouchable with her bionic chip's super speed. Ciara's team was a powerhouse, with Ciara's swift blade, Jerry's scrappy fighting style, and Adam's bionic chip consisting of super strength, there was quite possibly no way they would go down without first giving a massive fight to the death.

"Now if there are no more interruptions, we're ready. Mr. Davenport, I assume you guys took a look at Chogan's base?" He knew Milton had informed them of the location on the way over, he did so on the plane ride. It wasn't something Jack was _happy_ with, but he didn't let it bother him too much. "Did you manage to get a peek at how many guards there were?"

"Yes," Davenport replied. "It's how you believe, there are massive amounts of guards around the location. Not just Indians, but other types of fighters as well."

"Then we have our work cut out for us…we cannot afford to fail." He cleared his throat and closed his eyes. "Let's do this, team. Let's take out the Black Dragons!"

* * *

Here we go, tell me your thoughts friends


	55. Giving it All

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 55 (Giving it All)

First up was Kim's team, taking the right side of the large mansion. Ciara's team would hit the left side of the house while Jack was going towards the back. Indeed there were a number of different guards, each with their own specialization. On her side, there were several Indians and Black Dragons with electric whips. In truth, by several, there were really only about fifteen people just hanging out on the side of the house.

She had her team squatting behind bushes, watching this group closely. They hoped to form a strategy. Eddie merely cringed at the ninjas with the whips. "I was hoping _not_ to run into more of them." Kim raised an eyebrow at him and looked over to Bree.

"If you can steal one of those whips, would you be able to use it against them?" Bree's face lit up and she quickly nodded her head. It seemed the girl would be more than happy to shock the enemy into submission. "Those whips, have a pretty high voltage based off what Eddie described back on day one…so it shouldn't be too hard. With your speed, they wouldn't know what's happening." She glared at the enemy fighters, all nonchalantly chatting with one another. "If we want to be stealthy, we'll have to separate them. Chances are we may end up alerting them…" There were not many places to hide and take out all these people, so unfortunately quietly taking them out wasn't going to work. They'd have to work fast. "We need to take them all out as quick as possible. So Bree, you can use that whip. Eddie, if you distract people towards you, the ninja and I can help take anyone out that is focusing on you." Eddie groaned and slowly shrugged his shoulders.

"Fine." Kim and Bree pushed him out and he let out a frightened yelp. The Black Dragons started to glare at him and he quickly feigned confusion. "H-Hey can you help me out? I'm lost…" The enemy began to surround him. Kim motioned for Bree and the ninja to move.

While Eddie talked to the enemies, Kim and the others started to move along the bushes and trees surrounding the area. Just one of the enemy noticed Bree's movements and started walking to the left of Eddie, where Bree had gone. Kim smirked when she saw the sole enemy had a whip at his side.

Just as he neared Bree's bush, the ninja lost his whip. Before he could react, the whip shot out from the bush and wrapped around his neck, then yanked him in with a crackling noise that the other enemies didn't seem to pay any attention to. Surely sending all that voltage into the enemy's neck would be damn near fatal, as would anything from the neck and up. Bree must truly be pissed off about what happened to her family.

Kim's heart began to race as Bree stepped out from the bush. Bree's eyes were narrow and her deadly glare burned onto the black dragons talking with Eddie. She lifted her right hand up, letting the long whip drape down and brush the ground, burning off the grass. She cracked her neck to the right, then the left, and in the blink of an eye, she was gone.

An exclamation rang out as one of the Black Dragons disappeared from behind the crowd. "What was that?" One Indian questioned. Kim and the ninja on her team looked over to see Bree dumping the body of one of the enemy on the ground. Bree glanced back and charged out again, striking down another. "Someone's picking us off? It's a trap!"

"Took you long enough," Eddie muttered. The enemy surrounded him and he quickly brought his fists up to his chest. "I may be slower than the others, but I make up for that with my endurance, so…bring it…"

"Okay let's get going," Kim muttered. This wasn't _exactly_ how she foresaw the fight going down. She and the ninja hurried out from their hiding spots just as the enemy and Eddie began their fight. Eddie was doing a pretty good job pushing the enemy back, but the whips were coming down hard on him. It wasn't long before those with whips lost theirs, as Bree had run in and taken them all. "Still not sure how long Bree can keep that up before her bionic chip fizzles out."

"Probably not long," the ninja replied. "I've read up on those bionic chips made by Mr. Davenport. If they've been as obsolete for as long as they have been, then this will probably be the last major battle those kids are going to have before basically being normal. I don't know, it's just speculation from what I read."

"Damn, that is harsh." Just as one Indian was about to raise up a crossbow to Eddie, Kim sprang into action. She put her hands on the back of the man's shoulders and flipped over, kicking her legs high in the air and twisting them over as she flipped in front of the man. The Indian was startled and fearful when she smirked at him. "Sorry, can't let you do that." She quickly struck the Indian with a headbutt, forcing him back a couple steps. She narrowed her eyes and quickly struck with a knifehand blow to the neck, followed by a jump kick into his chest.

Another Indian shot an arrow at her, but missed. Just as she turned around, the ninja flipped behind the Indian and struck his neck from both sides with her hands, knocking him out on the ground. Kim looked over to Bree, she was beginning to slow down, panting heavily. Jack's concern was half right, those chips were going to be overworked until they were no longer able to power up again. Her heart went out to Bree, fighting for her family with all she had, even if it meant never being able to use her powers again. Hopefully Adam was being as helpful on Ciara's team as Bree was.

"It's a sacrifice, we know that," Adam said as he and Ciara studied their prey on the left wall of the mansion. There were close to twenty Indians and Zulu Warriors positioned about the place. Ciara was a bit concerned that Adam and Bree may have lied to Jack, but now it was too late to do anything about it. This was their ultimatum, their choice. Adam had just confessed that he and Bree knew well their chips were never going to work again after this. "We want to do this because we know this is what it's going to take…Dad and Chase suffered because of these people. I may be the dumb one of the group, but even I'm able to tell what has to be done."

"So you and Bree are going to sacrifice your powers for revenge?" Jerry questioned. It baffled Ciara as well, she couldn't understand why they'd want to give up their powers all for revenge. "I don't understand the purpose?"

"Not just revenge. Our chips will short out anyway on a mission, better they short out on something like this instead of unexpectedly on something we get sent out to deal with. They've been obsolete for a year, they have no juice left." Adam bowed his head and narrowed his eyes. "I don't understand a lot of the science, Davenport and Chase understand more, but somehow when our chips overheat, Dad and Chase can take them and use them to wake Tasha and Leo. If sacrificing our powers means saving our family, then by all means, that's exactly what we're going to do."

Ciara admired that, to give up powers for his stepmom and brother was a very noble thing. "Then by all means Adam, you have our support." Adam thanked her with an appreciative smile, then looked towards the group of fighters. He swallowed hard and closed his eyes. "Will you and Bree be okay when they overheat?"

"Yes. We'll be completely _normal_ and powerless, but…we'll be just fine. Chase will still have his chip because it never wore down. These Bionic chips work just like the body's muscles, if they're toned then they continue to work and grow stronger. If they're not worked, then they atrophy, and that's exactly what happened."

"I see."

"So forgive me if my chip goes out during this fight…if that happens, I'll try to get out of the way. I don't know how good of a fighter I'll be if it goes out on me."

"I understand. You know Jack's going to be pissed when he finds out you and Bree lied to him, but I'll try to put a good word in."

Adam chuckled and curled his lip into a smirk. "Thanks." With a shout that startled her, Adam charged out of the bush.

"What the hell is he doing?" Her heart thumped in her chest and her wide eyes flicked onto Adam, watching him barrel into the warriors. He had grabbed two Zulu Warriors by the neck and was currently using them to slam into the others. She and Jerry stepped out in to the open, raising their eyebrows curiously at the fight happening.

Adam was swinging blows every which way, flooring the Indians and the Zulu Warriors. Several Zulu Warriors were trying to strike him with their spears, but he would catch them and snap them in two. As for the Indians, none of them were able to get their arrows ready. Within minutes, half of the warriors were already floored. "I think he's trying to take out as many as possible before his chip goes out," Jerry remarked. Ciara's heart dropped and she quickly unsheathed her blade.

"Then we'll let him do what he has to do. Surround them, make sure they stay in that small cluster. Any that try to get out, take them out." Jerry nodded and started off towards the left, Ciara sidestepped the right, slowly twirling her blade in her hands. She narrowed her eyes as the warriors turned their attention to her. One started for her with their spear, she let out a triumphant yell and slashed up with her blade, slicing neatly through the spear. She then brought her blade down and slashed through the right shoulder of the Zulu Warrior, then out the left side. To her right, the ninja on their team was busy taking out the Indians as well. Jerry was doing well, everyone was focused and had the crowd under control.

She could see Adam starting to slow down, he was sweating and finally beginning to struggle against one of the Warriors. Fortunately, there were not many of the enemies left, so Ciara dove in to help.

Jack and his group glared at the enemies surrounding the back, there were really only five guarding the back, and they were all Indian archers. Hell, Jack and the ninja could take them out just fine on their own. The plus of the matter was Chase could put up his force field for them whenever the Indians shot at them.

Currently he was agitated at the news Chase had given to him in regards to his siblings. Adam and Bree told him they wouldn't be a liability, and they _wouldn't_, but he was irritated they didn't at least tell him what the plan was. He admired the noble task of giving up their powers and intentionally burning out their chips to save their family. "So how does it work?" Jack asked. Chase breathed in and closed his eyes.

"Considering they've been out of commission for about a year, their chips would get overheated and overworked within minutes. The unfortunate thing is, they can never get their chips back to the way they used to be, so there's no choice but to burn them out. Even after burning the chips out, the chips have something in them that stimulate brain activity."

"Okay?"

"Bree and Adam can survive without the chips, they don't need them to live. Once we remove the chips from them, they'll be normal human beings with normal lives. We can attach the chips to a specific region of Mom's and Leo's brain long enough that the chips will be able to still stimulate their brain's activity. Once that happens, we can remove the chips, but Mom and Leo will still manage to remain awake."

He was truly happy for Chase and his family, having come to a good conclusion regarding the family. "Good, I'm glad you and Mr. Davenport managed to figure something out." At least Chase himself would still have his bionic chip working, but it was still a depressing thought. "You think Bree and Adam might be upset over not having their powers while you still do?"

"We've all talked about it, they said they wouldn't care. If it does become a problem, I'll remove it, but it shouldn't be an issue."

"Good to know, then. One last question, if you were brought over here one by one by Bree, how do you plan on getting back?"

"We bought a plane ticket back home."

"Fair enough. Let's put up your shield and get moving." Chase smirked and extended his hand. A blue orb surrounded the four, and they slowly started walking out into the open. The Indians spotted them and immediately began firing off arrows. To Jack's amazement and pleasure, the arrows merely fizzled and bounced off of the shield. "That really is handy."

"I can only keep it up for a brief period, so Milton…use the freeze gun Davenport gave you."

"Right on," Milton cheered. When the group arrived, Davenport had a gun that would temporarily freeze enemies. In that respect, he gave it to Milton as a gift, considering Milton was the one that kept in constant communication, _and_ Milton just wasn't as good of a fighter as he was a smart guy. "First, those weapons of theirs…" He moved the small pistol shaped gun from his back and aimed at the Indians, who were clueless as to what the weapon was. He fired off several shots, freezing all the crossbows, and three of the Indians. With a smirk, Milton blew over the barrel of the gun and pocketed it in the gun's holder on his waist. Just as he did this, Chase's shield went down.

"Good timing," the ninja muttered. Jack laughed in agreement as the two remaining Indians charged towards them. The ninjas sidestepped one and reached forward, grabbing the Indian's head and snapping it to the right. Jack jumped into the air, over the ninja, and twisted his body into a full turn, digging his feet into the upper back of the remaining Indian.

"All done?" Jack brushed his hair and smirked at the fallen Indians. Ciara's team and Kim's team came running around the sides of the house, having finished with their own battles. He looked back at them and glanced to Adam and Bree, both appeared breathless and were breathing heavily. "You two forgot to tell me what your initial plan was…"

"Sorry," Bree muttered. She crossed her arms and closed her eyes, trying to steady her own breathing. "It's finished though, our chips are gone…we gave it our all." He frowned and put his hand to Chase's shoulder, the boy knew what was necessary now. Tears welled up in Bree's eyes as she lowered her arms. "I'm going to miss those powers, but…it's worth it if it can save Leo and Tasha."

"I agree," Adam remarked. "That's all that matters right now…"

"You did a noble thing," Jack walked over to the two and reassured them with a smile. "The right thing, it looks like you won't regret it either. Thank you for your help here as well, saved us a lot of time. I think Chase and Mr. Davenport will know what to do from here."

"Yeah they will. In the meantime, I still have _some_ strength, just not more than what the average person who works out can lift."

"Good, and hopefully Bree still is a fast runner. Thanks again for your help, but I'm going to have to ask that you two get some rest. I'm pretty sure all that's left is Chogan, and I don't want you to risk your lives at this point."

"Aye aye captain." Adam mock saluted him and Chase slowly shook his head, chuckling to himself. Jack watched Chase walk towards his siblings and hug them, tears were quickly fleeing his eyes. With a full heart, Jack was confident that these siblings would be just fine. "Good luck in there, Jack. You have our full support."

Chase turned around and nodded his head to Jack, "Thank you for everything. I don't know what would have happened if you didn't show up when you did." Jack appreciated the compliment and did give Chase a friendly one-armed hug.

"You guys will do fine, just enjoy your lives and enjoy what you have with your family. That's all you need to do."

"Yeah, I know. I think Dad and I pretty much figured that's the most important thing…I mean…" Chase stifled a sob that threatened to come up, sniffling and looking back to his siblings. "You don't know how miserable we were without them, Jack…powers or not, I couldn't possibly care as long as they're here."

"Right. Take care of yourselves, Chase." He smiled at Chase and looked over as one of the ninjas from the front came running around. The ninja signaled that it was all clear, so now was the time to get inside the mansion. "All right, everyone else…let's do this."

* * *

Tell me your thoughts and observations of the battles!


	56. Mind Control

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 56 (Mind Control)

Jack, finally back with his original crew, carefully made his way around the side of the house. The yard was littered with unconscious bodies everywhere, and some dead. It was an unfortunate scenario, but it had to be done. The front yard was no different, the ninjas had indeed done their job. Though what surprised him was Chance was standing in the middle of the lawn with his grandfather, he had a bow and arrow in his hand, and a smirk on his face.

"We took care of the rest," Chance stated. Ciara made her way over to him and smirked at him. He put his arm around her waist and sighed contently. From what Jack understood, Chance and his brother were excellent archers. At least, they were archers when they helped take out Paragon. "Lifted one of these babies off from an Indian, it took me back, so I couldn't help myself." Of course. Jack rolled his eyes and laughed, he was always happy for any help whatsoever.

"So are you ready to go inside?" General Thompson asked. He nodded and looked to the front door. There was no clue as to what they'd find inside, but hopefully there wouldn't be anything other than Chogan. Of course, he expected to find Oliver somewhere, if not, then he didn't know where the guy would be. "During the fighting, nobody exited the building, so we know whoever's inside is still in. Therefore, it goes without saying, a lot of the enemy troops were out here, and no one was alerted."

"Good." Jack folded his arms over and narrowed his glare onto the door. "We're that much closer to getting rid of that machine." Hopefully turning it off would be an _easy_ task, rather than one of difficulty. If there was a deactivation code, they would just have to find out what it was. "There's no stopping us now. General Thompson, if you and Major Anderson would like to come inside, feel free to do so."

"I think I'll keep guard outside," Chance replied. "There shouldn't be much trouble inside. Though grandpa probably ought to go inside." The General took a look at his grandson and Chance shrugged his shoulders. "Someone needs to turn on that footage and inform the world leaders that the Black Dragons are no more."

"He has a point. I mean we can do the same, but it's up to him." General Thompson nodded and smiled at him. In fact, Chance had a point as well, not every one of them _needed_ to go inside. "I suspect the only ones inside will be Chogan, and _maybe_ Oliver. Just remember our deal regarding him…" The General agreed and Jack turned to the door. "Not all of us need to go inside, some need to stay out here just in case something goes wrong and backup shows up. So I want strong fighters out here as well."

Ciara could do her best work outside in case any of these guards in the yard woke up and decided to get inside the building. Plus, she hadn't seen her husband in a while, so he wanted to give her the privilege of that. If there was any trouble in regards to that machine, such as coding or designs, Milton's brains would benefit them. Eddie could be out here to help in any way, Jack wanted Kim with him as she was a fighter at his level that could be extremely useful should they run into trouble. "Okay. Ciara, Eddie, and Jerry, I want you guys to remain out here. If any guards come around, you three can put them out, and Ciara should be with her husband. Kim and Milton, come with me…should anything go wrong in there, you two can be helpful. General Sir, again if you'd like to come inside, I think you can help with your military expertise."

"I'll do what I can," the General replied. The others were satisfied with the choices made, so nobody had any arguments for him. He smiled at them and started his slow walk towards the door.

"All right then, let's get moving." Kim and Milton followed just a step behind him, side by side, and the General followed close behind them. Jack reached for the doorknob and slowly checked to see if it was unlocked. Milton pushed him to the side, which annoyed him. "What are you doing?" He watched earnestly as his friend pulled out the freeze gun and started to freeze the door. His eyebrows rose as Milton stepped back and motioned with his hand. Kim followed up with a swift side kick into the door, shattering it completely. "Nice thinking…"

"I figured if the door was locked, then we may as well break it," Milton remarked. Jack chuckled and listened to Kim compliment Milton, stating simply that this was why he was the brains of the operation. "Now, let's get inside and hope there aren't a million guys waiting to kill us." Jack smoothed his hair over and confidently entered the house, but what he was met with was an unexpected kick from the side. He let out a loud yell and rolled on the ground. "Holy crap!" Milton and Kim quickly ran behind him and helped him to stand. General Thompson also moved over to him, slowly looking over with a loud groan.

"What the hell was that?" He adjusted his jaw, which had hit the floor when he landed. Standing before him was Oliver himself, but something was off. There was a small metal square on his forehead, and he appeared almost robotic. "Isn't that Oliver?"

"I think so," Kim remarked. "What's on his head?"

"I have no clue." He started to step forward, clenching his fists. "Oliver Oken?" The man grunted at his name, acknowledging it. "We don't _have_ to fight. I just want to talk to you…before we fight, there are some things you need to know."

"You're in the way," Oliver's monotonous voice irritated his ears. He scratched his head and let his heart sink into despair. He needed to keep his head held high, and hope to talk to him.

"Oliver listen, if you are willing to give all this up, you can be pardoned."

"Jack!" Milton exclaimed, "That thing on his head…it looks like a mind control device. Scientists everywhere know how to make it." He groaned and buried his forehead into his hand. He didn't want to have to deal with _another_ mind controlled freak. "I guess now we can safely say he's being forced, right General?"

"Yeah, if that question ever comes up," General Thompson answered. They _were_ still the only ones that knew of Oliver's involvement, and Jack just wanted to see if there was still any trueness left in Oliver's heart. To see if he could be saved when offered a second chance. Now he actually had to figure a way to free the man from mind control? Jesus, this day was just _not_ getting any easier.

In an instant, Oliver was upon him. He let out a loud yell and ducked an overhead kick, only to receive a blow to his chest from a frontal kick. He flew back onto the ground, striking hard against the floor. With a groan, he stood up and wiped a drop of blood from his lips. He was beside himself wondering why Chogan would try to control Oliver. "I can't believe Chogan would actually, wait…no…I believe it." If Oliver wanted to end things, then it made sense. He looked over at Oliver and narrowed his eyes. "Okay…me versus you big guy, if I can't talk you out of this mind control, I'll have to find a way to get that chip off your head."

"You won't be doing that," Oliver replied. His voice still annoyed Jack, so cold and monotonous. He couldn't wait to talk to Oliver on a _normal_ basis. "Freedom of thought is bad, I must act on anger." Oliver charged for him, throwing a fist down. Thinking fast, Jack deflected the blow and swiveled behind Oliver.

"Not so fast!" He started to kick back, but Oliver kicked back at the same time. Their foots collided and both men pushed the other towards the floor. They landed on their palms, pushed up and backflipped onto their feet. Jack cracked his neck to the right and twisted around, kicking his foot high in the air, Oliver performed the same move, striking his ankle against his own. Jack leapt back and growled. "Evenly matched, huh?"

"Chogan said what happened to Ernesto was your fault. Hilda's gone, and it was your fault." Jack rolled his eyes and brought his fingertips to his forehead, rubbing his temples firmly. How could this man sound so calm and nonchalant when he spoke?

"For one thing, Chogan lied to you dude. He's been lying to you all your life! The Indians attacked us at the hospital, they killed Ernesto, but we did have Hilda taken to a safe place that they couldn't find her. They tried to kill her, man."

"I refuse to believe you."

"Why? Will it cause you to think for yourself again?" He smirked and lifted his head from his hand. "Come on Oliver, you know you want that second chance. You can redeem yourself, just…" He steadied his eyes upon that chip and growled. "Let me help you out here. That chip-"

"The chip stays on." Oliver hopped onto one leg and lifted his left leg up, kicking it forward. Jack leapt into the air and kicked forward, striking Oliver in the chest. Just as Oliver fell back, he grabbed Jack's leg and threw him back onto the ground with him. Jack let out a ferocious shout and rolled onto his back.

"Damn that smarts!" As Oliver rose and stood above him, Jack started pondering how to get out of this. He placed his palms on the ground behind him and curled his legs inward, then kicked them out into Oliver's chest. Just as Oliver started to fall back, Kim came rushing up behind him. She performed a jump kick into Oliver's back, then put her leg on the ground, kicking once again with the other. Oliver crashed into the ground and Jack quickly shot up. "Thanks Kim."

"No problem." The two of them moved into fighter stance beside one another as Oliver slowly pushed himself up. "Jack, if he starts saying 'does not computer' I think I'm going to go crazy."

"He isn't a robot, just under Chogan's influence…" Jack narrowed his eyes as Oliver glared in his direction. "Hey Oliver, if Chogan cared so much about you, why did he put a mind control device on you?"

"Why turn me against Chogan? What does it prove?" As if Oliver wasn't already against him.

"Chogan's been lying to you. He's been behind everything that happened to your friends, he and Matata. He's the one who killed Lilly, and he tried to kill Hilda! If we weren't there, he would have won. He killed Ernesto so he wouldn't talk, cause he confessed to Ernesto. Your father's still alive, granted he lost an eye, but he's alive, and your brother…your brother needs you most. Not only does he need you, Chogan molested him all those years ago!" Oliver froze up, glaring suspiciously at him and narrowing his eyes. "We _talked_ to your father, Oliver. Your brother's been failing college, he's been doing drugs! He used to look up to you. Oh, and another thing? Hilda's _pregnant_, which I think you know…she's pregnant with _twins_, Oliver. They need you too."

God only knew if Oliver was seriously hearing him right now. All he could do was pray Oliver could hear him and that he was listening, if not, then he would have to repeat himself later. Oliver took a deep breath, and what happened next astonished Jack more than anything. Resting on Oliver's nonchalant face, within his emotionless eyes, were _tears_. His words _were _reaching him!

"Oliver listen to me…we found Hilda in her coma, we also found her family. Not only is she alive, her birth father is _Ken Truscott_. Did you know that? I don't know if Hilda even knew that. Lilly was her sister…something tells me if Chogan knew that, he would have killed her. All Chogan's been doing is controlling you, trying to make you do whatever _he_ wants done. As long as it serves a purpose. He killed Lilly in an attempt to make you angry, to play off your anger. He told you your father and brother were dead so that you wouldn't have anything. Not only that, but he was the one who had Rin's mother, she was trapped in that place all these years, that compound. It was him, Oliver, it was all him…"

"If what you say is true…where is Hilda?"

"In California, exactly where your father and brother are. If you wash your hands of this organization, if you _change_ this, put a stop to all this…we will take you to her. You'll be named as a captive of the Black Dragons, not one of the Captains. You, along with Rin and Dylan, right?"

Oliver started to close his eyes, yet another sign that he was getting through to him. Now he only needed to convince him to let him remove that chip. "We're here to help you," Kim added. She removed the recording device from Jack's pocket. "Ernesto recorded everything, his conversation with Chogan, and even what he found out on his own…we'll let you hear it in his voice." She pressed play and Oliver's eyes shot open as Ernesto's voice echoed through the room.

Jack studied Oliver as the recording played, the man was still expressionless, but tears were indeed coming out. Chogan's betrayal obviously affected him deep inside. Whatever mind control he was under, it was weak. As Oliver's full attention was on the recording, Jack slowly inched towards him.

When the recording finished, Jack was right beside Oliver with his hand reaching for the chip. Oliver slowly closed his eyes, not daring to move, and allowing Jack to take the device. Clearly his better side won over the combative side. Right as he removed the chip, Oliver fell to his knees and buried his head into his hands.

"Say it's not true," Oliver whimpered. "Everything you said, what Chogan did, please tell me…is it all true?"

"I'm sorry Oliver. I want to deny it, but everything's true…" Oliver clenched his eyes shut as further angry tears erupted from him.

"I…was just there…in California. I thought I heard my brother's voice, but I thought it was my imagination."

"Your father's name is Jasper, he likes to dress like a cowboy, and is a very intimidating man." He helped Oliver to his feet, understanding the pain he felt from the betrayal. "I know the anger you felt when Hilda went into that coma, I felt the same when the Black Dragons did the same to Kim." Oliver slowly looked towards Kim and chuckled nervously.

"She's a good kicker."

"Damn right, and my right hand." He smirked proudly and Kim rolled her eyes, smiling at him. "But I understand what you've gone through, and I know what it feels like to have someone betray you…and to lose your entire family."

"I…I never wanted to take Miley away really, Chogan said I needed to do it. He told me that I couldn't let them get away with Lilly's death, and, and it wasn't even Miley's fault…"

"Miley and Rudy are safe, Oliver. Both of them."

"But Mr. Stewart…" Oliver cupped his hand over his mouth and put his left hand to his stomach. He clenched his eyes shut and started to sob. "Matata killed him in cold blood. Oh god…the reason I tried to take Rudy was just so Miley would have her brother, someone to help give her a little bit of hope. I wanted to free her, but Chogan never…now he goes and does this to the celebrities."

"I know, but now you can move on. Hilda needs you, your father and brother need you. You can let the Black Dragons go and take care of them, we'll pardon you. Just go with General Thompson here, and you're free."

"Freedom…" Oliver slowly looked at the stairwell and narrowed his eyes. "Yes freedom. Freedom for those celebrities too, that's what I wanted, because they had families that were suffering…making a change…No, I'm not going to let Chogan do this, he fucking lied to me, I'm _not_ leaving here without making sure he fucking pays for his influence! What he did to my dad and to my brother, he's going to pay!"

"Oliver?" Jack stepped back as Oliver started running for the steps, he was amazed Oliver still had energy in him after their fight! Though, both had beaten each other relatively well, so there was no way Oliver could possibly take Chogan on his own. "Okay then, wait for me…" He looked back anxiously at Kim, Milton, and the General, then broke off in a run after Oliver. "You're not fighting him alone!"

* * *

They got through to him, debugged the chip, what do you guys think of it all? What are your thoughts and observations?


	57. Dragon's Fall

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 57 (Dragon's Fall)

He was going to bash the man's head in, tear his throat out, or perhaps tear out Chogan's stomach and shove it down his throat. Either or, Oliver was _not_ letting Chogan get away with any of this. Upon arriving at the door, he noticed Jack was directly behind him. The General was huffing up the steps though, with Kim hurrying in front of the man, and Milton moving behind him in case he had trouble getting up all the stairs.

Oliver put a finger to his lips and slowly lifted his hand up to the door. There was no way the man was going to open the door if he banged on it like before, and if they simply barged in, Chogan would know what was coming. He knocked hard on the door and heard Chogan questioning what he needed. "Chogan. I've found some intruders and I've brought them for you. I think you'd be interested in who's here." He balled his fists up and waited, but there was no response from the elder man.

Soon however, Chogan did open the door. "Didn't I instruct you to kill whoever you found, Oliver?" Chogan froze and Oliver's lip curled up into a smirk. "Wait a minute, the chip…it's gone?" Yet another thing he'd done that pissed him off to no end, he never imagined Chogan would try to use mind control on him. "I mean, who have you found? Will it cause a problem for the plan?" Oliver started shrugging his shoulders and cracking his neck from side to side. He was preparing himself to strike. "If it interferes with the plan, then you'll have to deal with them."

"Maybe." Without hesitation, feeding on the rage inside of him, Oliver reached up and grabbed Chogan's shirt. He let out a violet yell and pushed forward, slamming Chogan on the nearest wall. The man exclaimed painfully as Jack and the others hurried into the room. "You fucking liar! You bastard, you've been lying to me for twelve years!" Chogan yelped as he slammed his fist into the man's gut. "You've controlled me like a fucking puppet on strings, all this time, just to help yourself! I _trusted _you, I thought you were a part of the family, but you didn't give a shit about family. You only wanted power!"

"Oliver, I don't know what you're-"

"Don't give me that. They're alive aren't they? My dad, my brother, they're alive. Tell me they're alive." He narrowed his glare as Chogan sorely gazed back at him. Tears welled up in his own rage filled eyes. "You're the one who killed Lilly, you hired that thug. You're the one that killed Ernesto, and tried to take Hilda from me as well…can you be honest? Can you at _least_ tell me that much?"

"I'm sorry Oliver. I…" Chogan looked past him, then back at him. "I don't know what they've been telling you, but I'll never forget when your father looked up to me with those dying eyes and he swore…he swore to me to take care of you, and I-"

"Goddamn _liar!"_ Filled to the brim with adrenaline, Oliver grasped Chogan's shirt and tossed him clear against the wall. Chogan landed face first on the floor. "Don't you dare lie to me when Jack and his guys _found_ my father! They were able to describe him to me, my dad never liked you. Hell, even _I_ know that much! How dare you play me, how dare you use me!" Chogan started to push himself up, his hair blocking his face.

"Oliver, I would never-"

"Shut up! Quit lying to me for god's sake, the game's already up! I already _know_ how you are." Chogan glanced over at the nearby desk and slowly rose to his feet. His silver hair swept in front of his face, covering his deadly glare and bloody nose from the fall. He narrowed his eyes and took a step backwards as Jack and Oliver moved towards him. "You even put that mind control thing on me…So don't think I'm exactly willing to believe your lies anymore."

"Fine, I understand…" Chogan started to sweep his hair from his face. It was parted in the middle, and this was the worst Oliver had ever seen it. "You want the truth? Honesty? Sure…it's all true. Everything." Oliver started to simmer and it felt as someone had just stabbed him in the gut, deflating him. The bile was burning in his throat and he was unable to look directly at this man, this man that he'd trusted and respected for so many years. "I did everything, I lied to you…I hired someone to kill Lilly so you would naturally be angry, I used your friend Miley as a scapegoat so you would blame her. When your father left, I did do the things accused of me towards your brother in an attempt to scare and control your father, but he was too strong for that, so he fought me instead…" His stomach lurched forward and his eyes slammed shut. He cupped his hand over his mouth and let out a disgusted moan.

"D-Dad was always the strong one though." The man hummed his response before continuing on with his confessions. Hopefully it was being recorded.

"Your dad managed to put me out, but that didn't matter, he was still weak. So before he could get to you, yes, I told you that your father and brother were dead. I did make you take your friend away, yes. I needed someone young and fit in charge of the Black Dragons, but in order to do that, I had to harden you. Then you wound up finding Dylan, Ernesto, Hilda, Rin, Fan, and everyone seemed to work against my plans to try and fix your apparent broken heart."

"They were all good people, they never should have been involved in this fucking mess…"

"I agree, and you shouldn't have been either. I see that now, I see where your heart is and where it's always been. I'm sorry, I actually started to look at you like a son." Oliver scoffed and turned his glare towards the man. In that instant, Chogan grabbed something from his shirt pocket, a strange looking substance and threw it into his eyes. It was pepper, and it stung his eyes! He screamed out in pain and began to rub his eyes, sweeping the stuff away from his face before it sank in. Just as he did this, Chogan stabbed him in the muscle on top of his left shoulder, between his clavicle and back bone. He screamed out as Chogan ducked low and kicked his legs.

During this, Jack ran up behind Chogan and grabbed the back of his hair, then slammed a knee into Chogan's back multiple times. "You are not getting away with that," Jack growled. Chogan hissed and spun around, swinging his knee up into Jack's abdomen. He doubled over and Chogan slammed his clasped hands down onto the man's back. Oliver roared out in anger as he did this and swiftly threw a roundhouse kick towards Chogan.

Chogan jumped backwards and narrowed his eyes. "I never thought it would come to this, Oliver." Oliver huffed in reply. He looked to his left arm, already blood was beginning to drip down his arm. He winced as he reached over and attempted to pull the arrow from his shoulder. Once he pulled it out, he tossed it on the ground and put his hand over the wound, applying firm pressure.

"This wound is nothing compared to what I'm going to do to you." Jack rose behind Chogan. Oliver met his eyes and smirked confidently, he knew he could at least beat Chogan with Jack's help. As crazy as the man was, he was a lot weaker than he'd been twelve years ago. Jack slammed his foot into Chogan's back, causing the man to spin around and focus on him for the moment. During this distraction, Oliver charged forward with the arrow in his hand, then slammed it down into Chogan's upper back. The man screamed out in pain and slashed his hand back, slamming it into Oliver's jaw.

Oliver reeled back and let out a loud shout just as Chogan moved around Jack and threw a fist into his back. Jack avoided the blow by swaying forward, then flipping backwards over Chogan. Jack slammed his foot down onto the top of the arrow, pushing it down further into the man. Chogan reached back, trying to grab Jack's foot, but missing.

Oliver leapt forward and extended his right foot, delivering a swift kick into the man's jaw with his heel. Chogan crashed against the floor and rolled across the ground several times. He roared angrily and quickly rose to his feet. "All right, you're done. Both of you." Chogan felt his jaw, wincing in pain and flinching at the touch. Blood was pouring from his mouth, soaking his shirt, and drenching his hair. "I'm going to take all of you out. You think it matters what you do? Nobody gives a shit about you anymore, you've been dead for twelve years."

"Wrong, there are people who care about me…people that need me…I have things to do, and you don't appear on my list of plans."

Chogan slowly rose up, throwing his arms down and releasing a loud battle cry. He lunged forward, only to tackle Jack to the ground. His hands grasped Jack's throat, but the man kicked into Chogan's chest, throwing him off over his head. The Indian let out a loud scream of pain once he landed on his shoulder, emitting a shockingly loud shattering noise from his left shoulder and hip. Thinking fast, Oliver kicked the desk with the arrows on it, sending them flying off towards Chogan. The man moved his arms up in front of his face, blocking several arrows from hitting his head.

"Goddamn punks," he breathed heavily and started to pick himself up very slowly. He was covered with arrows, soaked with blood, but still managing to stand? This man was definitely a strong fighter for his age. Oliver and Jack prepared themselves, still working as a team to take down this man. "You think you're going to beat me?"

"You're getting to cocky for your own good," Jack chided. "You're forgetting that even _if_ you took us out, which we're not about to let happen, there's still Kim, Milton, and the General." Chogan looked over his shoulder at the three people behind him. General Thompson was aiming a pistol upon him while Milton held out his freeze gun and Kim was waiting to strike.

Before he could respond, General Thomson fired off a shot into his hip. Milton froze his left foot to the ground, and Kim flipped over him, kicking him back against a nearby window. His frozen foot shattered and blood began pouring out. He screamed violently and grasped the windowsill to steady himself.

Oliver narrowed his eyes and started moving towards him with Jack right beside him. Chogan glared up at him, baring his teeth. It was a truly pitiful sight, and it helped to make him realize that this could have been _his_ path if he'd so stupidly followed this man. "I can't believe I was so stupid as to let you influence me…" Chogan continued his breathless pants and his attempt to stand on one foot. "I'm not weak, I'm strong. Stronger than _you_ anyway."

"Just a selfish man," Jack added, his tone laced with anger and spite. "A good manipulator, but you won't ever have to worry about him again."

"Nobody will." Oliver and Jack turned towards each other, keeping their glares locked onto Chogan. As the old man started to curse them, the lifted their legs and struck him hard in the chest. Glass shattered against his back and splintered in all directions. Chogan looked back and screamed out in terror as he began his descent.

The man's scream ended seconds later with a sickening thud and splattering noise below. Oliver closed his eyes and slowly breathed in. A weight had just fallen from his shoulders. "It's over, but yet…" He felt Jack's hand on his shoulder and slowly looked towards him. His heart was heavy and his chest ached, he yearned to see Hilda and his family. His _true_ family. At the same time, he wanted closure with Miley and Rudy, but could he really see them? Could he really talk to them? He felt a need, an emotion that told him he _had_ to at least talk to them, but there was a fear that combated his thoughts. "It's not really over, is it?"

"For the most part, it is. We still have to turn off that machine, and it's going to take a while for everyone to recover from this."

"Do I really get a second chance?"

"Yes. I can see you have a genuine feeling, so I know you'd be a good person. You just needed someone to understand and talk, and I think you need your family. Hilda too…"

"She's really…really still alive?"

"Yes." He started to stumble and Jack quickly helped him to stand, the adrenaline was leaving his body and the pain was beginning to set in. Though he was distracted by his thoughts. It amazed him that Hilda was Lilly's half sister, perhaps that was why she reminded him so much of her, but she was unique in her own ways. She was warm, gentle, loving, and cared about him. He was extremely grateful that she was still _alive_. He was glad his father and brother were alive, and he truly wanted to help Lance out. "I promised your father that I'd get you back to him in one piece, so take it easy now. We'll get you some help. In the meantime…General Thompson, could you please alert the World Leaders that we've taken Chogan out?"

"Indeed," General Thompson answered. The man walked towards the machine and studied it for a second. "Oliver, do you know how to turn it _off_ first? Then I must ask if you know how to use the video footage to communicate." He winced painfully and started to move over. He wanted to avoid being on the video, especially in this shape, so he knew enough to stay out of the way of the camera. He reached over and started typing, making the video come on.

"That's as much as I know, unfortunately I'm not entirely sure how to turn off the devices. Chogan had some sort of code."

"Right." The world leaders came on the screen and General Thompson quickly saluted them. They saluted back. "General Rick Thompson reporting in, our specialized team, which wishes to remain anonymous, have taken out Chogan Matchitchew."

"He is dead?" The President asked curiously, lifting an eyebrow.

"Yes, and the Black Dragons are finished. We are going to put some experts to work on this machine to crack its code and turn it off." The world leaders began murmuring with one another, all apparently satisfied that Chogan was no longer a threat. "Mark my words, we will have this puzzle solved and this machine destroyed. We will not rest until the work is complete."

"Good man, we will address the countries then. Get to work on that machine, I want it destroyed by the end of the day!"

"Yes sir."

* * *

It's not over yet. Chogan may be dead and the Black Dragons defeated, but there's still the aftermath to deal with.


	58. Tragic Awakening

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 58 (Awakening and Tragedy)

Izzy Gunnar, like millions of others, was making his way onto the rim of the volcano. The heat was remarkable, very difficult for him to take, but at the same time it did not affect him. His observation and awareness of his surrounding had been coming to him in flashes and streaks, as the parasite in his body was torturous enough to allow him to see and know what was going on around him, but left him with absolutely no way to control himself. It was like he was trapped inside of himself, screaming out for release as his body walked like an empty suit of armor.

It was in a split second of his internal screaming, crying, moments before jumping into the bubbly and bloody lava deep into the volcano, that the parasite inside of him ceased to work. His lips parted, and his voice joined the millions of celebrities surrounding him that subconsciously screamed aloud into the air, crying for freedom. Suddenly he could _feel_ everything, he could move on his own will, as if the curse itself was finally _broken_!He put his hand to his forehead and resisted the urge to fall down and cry.

For two weeks they'd walked, everyone moving with the speed of an Olympic sprinter due to that powder inside of him. His head pounded as his memory came back in swift flashes, he recalled several singers and actors he knew being pulled under the ocean water by sharks, and other predators. His chest crashed open and his muscles burned, finally reeling over the constant swimming and walking. As he looked over, he heard a familiar cry.

Raven Symone had nearly jumped into the lava just as the hypnosis had been broken, but Hilary Duff managed to catch her. The two fell backwards, Raven caught herself, but Hilary clung to the edge of the volcano. Thinking fast, aside from the tragedy that was taking place, Izzy ran over and helped Raven pull Hilary up before she went rolling down the rocks. Emily Osment was directly behind them, she stepped up and started to grab Hilary to stabilize her. "All right, we got you," Izzy said with a quiet voice as he pat the dirt off her. As she stood beside them, Izzy started to look out at the island they were on. Several hundred, no, _thousands_ of celebrities were waking up. "Where in God's name are we?"

First things first, getting off the volcano. Hilary sprained her ankle, so he and Emily helped her to step down on some safe and study rocks while Raven followed carefully behind. They needed to get away from the edge, at risk of falling into the volcano, or falling off the other way. In the distance, he could see many actors jumping and waving at a news chopper above. He put his hand onto his forehead, flattening his palm above his eyes as he gazed up at the roaring chopper in the sky.

"They're not going to be able to help us right now…" Just as he said that, the chopper pulled away and started to fly off into the distance. Raven and Hilary began to cry at the hopelessness of the situation. Izzy himself wanted to cry, remembering all those that probably didn't make it. He was fighting to keep his head held high, but finding it damn near impossible to do so. "Let's just…get off this volcano and pray help comes soon." His stomach began to churn once he realized that bodies had already been _in_ the volcano, people were jumping and landing several hundred feet into the boiling pit! "Oh god help us…" He put his hand to his mouth and looked to his right, another celebrity was on hands and knees, already vomiting up a storm.

Thinking hard, he swallowed down the bile and clenched his eyes shut. He felt the women nudge him forward, so he opened his eyes and continued his walk. Every step burned worse than the last, every step felt more hopeless than the last as each person he saw made the dread enter into his head. Darkness was coming for all of them, ready to swallow them whole. How did he survive? _Why_ did he survive? One of his best friends had gone down beneath the sea, but he couldn't remember whether the man ever came back up. His friend was a better, kinder person than he was. Why did _he_ make it when his friend didn't? Tears welled up in his eyes, stinging his cheeks. He started to fall when he felt their hands on his shoulder, urging him to keep moving.

"We need to get off this volcano, quit stopping," Raven muttered. No one wanted to leave anyone behind, clearly every single person had another person beside them. It was crucial to remain that way, and if someone were in trouble of dying, their buddy could help save them. He slowly nodded his head and continued to walk. They were no longer 'celebrities', they were now human beings looking out for one another in what might very likely be the world's greatest tragedy. God only knows how great of a tragedy it was.

"What the hell happened back there?" He uttered. His body was very cold, mostly due to the short sleeved shirt he had on, and the jeans. "Why would someone do this?" Once they reached the bottom of the volcano, he had the great urge to kiss the sand beneath his feet, but held back only to watch everyone else.

People were descending the volcano very slowly, all hovering onto the shore and huddling close to make use of body heat. How had their bodies sustained the bitter ocean? More than likely whatever parasite was in them kept them from being affected, but _now_, oh _now_ everything was beginning to take effect.

Nearby, he could hear the ramblings of an actor gone mad, and someone else was crying over how they felt like there was something moving inside of them. Even he was taking to notice a gash on his arm that had begun to heal over. He didn't know what it was from, but who did? Among all the confusion, could there be anyone to try and rally everyone together? Probably not.

His stomach kicked him once again and he fought down for the second time, the urge to vomit. Nearby he heard Simon Cowell screaming for a singer in the ocean. The person wasn't moving, so Simon jumped in and started to drag the singer out. Another swimming nearby went to assist and helped pull them up. It turned out to be Jennifer Lopez, she'd passed out once she woke up. The two celebrities started performing rescue breaths and CPR.

Izzy watched as they kept attempting to resuscitate her. He slowly began walking towards them, holding his hand over his heart. They never quit, continuing to wake her and call for her. After several attempts, she finally coughed up some water and moved her hand over to her eyes. Fresh tears dripped along the side of her face as Simon and the other celebrity rested on their knees, trying hard not to break down as well. It was difficult to do, a person's heart had to be made of steel in order for them not to actually feel _anything_ towards what was going on.

Were they going to die anyway? Where was help? He saw many actors and singers out in the ocean, trying to swim towards land. Surely they wanted to be as far away as possible from the volcano, but right now, there was no alternative. Some had to help others swim, some were fainting, and others were trying to swim back into the water to help those that weren't moving.

For Izzy, and likely for many of the others, he wanted to stay as far away from the water as possible. It terrified him to even _consider_ the ocean again. "All this for fucking what? The Black Dragons just wanted to get rid of every last celebrity? People are getting killed because of their _status_? Their _career_?" This was the last time he was taking new bodyguards in, but at the same time, he wasn't even sure he wanted to get back on the road.

He put his soggy thumb and finger to his eyes and rubbed them carefully, trying to rub out all the excess tears. His heart mourned for everyone that died out there, and for everyone that was missing, as well as everyone here on this island.

Hope did come, however, in the form of two very large cruise ships that had been following them. Of course, it seemed rescue would have to come in the form of ships, since they likely were the only things on earth that could possibly hold and transport all the celebrities back home.

When a voice echoed through the air, all celebrities moved their tear streaked faces and hopeless hearts towards the ships. "This is Captain Franklin, we're here to board you towards home. The _Allure of the Seas_ as well as _MSC Divina_. Cruise liners are being sent all around the world, and we promise, we _will_ get you home and treat whatever injuries or illnesses you may have contracted."

_Hope?_ No, only rescue. Hope was gone from their eyes, from their hearts, and the dark days had only just begun. After today, god knows how long it would take to rescue every actor or singer around, and god only knows how many would remain lost at sea. Obviously not every single person on the island would fit on the cruise liners, so while some left, others would have to come towards them for pickup. While he was glad for the rescue, he began to wonder if he would truly just prefer death as opposed to the depression that was sure to come.

Elsewhere on another island, Ricky Weaver screamed and cried for mercy as he started crawling onto shore. Actor Hugh Jackman had just pulled him from the ocean, striking a shark with a large piece of wood that he'd found on the island. The shark swam away, but the damage had been done, Ricky's left leg from an inch above his knee, down had been torn from his body.

Ricky propped his chest over his folded forearms, sobbing frantically as Hugh attempted to use his own water soaked shirt as a tourniquet. Ricky wasn't sure how much it would help, or even if he wanted it to help. The flashbacks from what he remembered over the course of several weeks were the most gruesome and devastating things he'd ever seen.

Singers he loved, actors he knew had fallen victim to shark infested waters. Many swam regardless of their wounds, only to die later. Even Hugh had been wounded somehow during the swim, as seen by the large gash across his chest. "Just let me die, please!" Ricky looked down at his leg and paled at the sight of his blood, muscles, and arteries hanging out in a dangerous clump. His stomach churned and forced the burning bile up his throat. "Oh my god! Please god let me die! Just throw me back in, I can't stand it!"

"I'm not letting you die." The man tied the shirt up and looked over as another actor came running with some rope they found. The actress removed her own shirt and started to tie it over the stump of Ricky's leg, then proceeded to tie the rope around it and tighten it. Ricky screamed as the pain shot through him. Why wouldn't they just let him die? It wasn't like he deserved to live, not with the things he'd done during life.

He eyed the ocean with a sense of longing, a desire to throw himself back in. "Leave me be…please…"

"Shut up, you don't think we know what you're going through? My good friend, James Marsden, you heard of him?" The guy that played Cyclops in X-Men, who _hadn't_ heard of him. "He died out there, kid…and I'll be damned if I'm going to watch someone else die when I actually have can control whether or not I do something about it!"

"Fine, but I don't see anyone coming to rescue us…" He whimpered and dropped his face into the sand. He didn't know what island they were on, nor how many celebrities there were on the current island. They'd swam off course from the rest, mostly due to shark attacks. During the hypnosis, some actors and singers were lucky enough, like Hugh, to strike the sharks so they would go away. It worked temporarily, but god forbid you start bleeding in the water, as many did.

His chest burned and his lips were cracked and dry. Ricky knew enough about medicine to know they had a short amount of time before he lost too much blood. The tourniquet only offered to slow down the blood flow, giving him extra time to _live_ when he only wanted to die.

Screw living, his career was over anyway. He'd have to get in a wheelchair for the rest of his life! So this man wouldn't let him willingly die, but surely the man understood the fight against time. He saw the great actor vigorously scratch his hair. "We need to find some good drinking water, or something to eat…anything…"

Ricky slowly rolled onto his back and gazed up at the sky, he could see planes flying far overhead amidst the clouds. How could the sky be so blue, when everything around him was so dark? He sobbed once and shook his head. _"Fuck it, just fuck it all…"_ He carefully reached down to the rope and cloth on his leg, glancing up at the actors around him. He tugged on the rope and leg, loosening the grip. _"I would rather die…I would rather fucking die…"_

The actors weren't looking, so thankfully they didn't see him loosen the bonding. Once released, blood had already begun splashing out. He could feel his leg going completely numb and the pain in his body seeming to intensify. His vision started to darken as he listened to the actors chat amongst each other.

He could feel death's cold grasp around him. It was better this, than just waiting hopelessly for a death to come anyway. What were the chances of rescue coming? He sobbed once more as blood began to soak through the shirts and pool around his body. He heard Hugh curse and yell for help, but it was too late, Ricky had lost far too much blood.

Just as death's icy grip started to take him, he could hear the sound of a ship's horn. His eyebrows rose and his heart stopped in mid-beat. Had rescue truly come? He could have been saved? "This is Captain Brecker, we're here to pick up as many passengers that we can…" As the man droned on, he slowly closed his eyes, listening to the frantic cries of the actors surrounding him. It was far too late, he had no choice but to succumb to death. As the darkness surrounded him, he gave out one final breath.

"Forgive me…"

* * *

Tense chapter, what did you think of all the celebrities waking, the near misses and the lives already lost? I wanted to show the perspectives of both sides, one that has little hope left, but still wants to try to carry on while another with the perspective of giving up completely.


	59. Long Road to Healing

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 59 (Long Road to Healing)

Shortly after finally managing to turn off and break the machine, which took a couple hours just to do, Jack and the others were off to find Bobby Wasabi. They'd spent some time getting treated for whatever injuries they sustained, but at least their injuries were minimal enough that they were able to leave the hospital soon after. They'd seen the news covering the footage of the celebrities already found at a few areas, but it was clear that it would take a long time before all the celebrities in the world could be rescued.

Jack was well aware the horror wasn't over yet, there were still millions lost, and of course the entire world was devastated. Wrought with tragedy, how could they rise up? A news reporter said it right when he said this was quite possibly a worse tragedy than 9-11, which was coming up and soon to be overshadowed. How could anyone move on? Jack wanted to keep Oliver with them because he was able to see just how emotionally depressed the man was. They promised him that they would personally take him to see his father, and perhaps to see his friends.

General Thompson granted him as a 'freed captive', along with Rin, Fan, and Dylan. Of course, Oliver really wanted to see Hilda, above all else. He did mention that would have to wait, he was frightened of how his family would react. The one thing that deeply troubled Jack, they never found Oliver's mother. There was no record of her alive in the past several years. One of the prior prisoners on the compound, however, seemed to imply that the woman had lived and perished in the compound, something that gravely disturbed Oliver. As if he needed _more_ bad news.

When the group entered into Bobby's home, they found him curled up on the couch with a large canister of ice cream. Seated beside him was Julie, rubbing his shoulder. It was a miracle that they managed to save Bobby. Now, even though Chogan was dead and the organization had crumbled, there was still the risk of running into Black Dragons. Rudy was _still_ under high protection by the CSI, _and_ Jack's crew. At least until all of this was over and he could attempt to go on about his life.

Bobby lifted his tear-stained face up to the group and gave them a sad smile. Julie shot up from the couch and hurried over to Milton, hugging him and gasping out her relief that the hypnosis was over. "Do you know how hard it was to keep him in the house?" She complained. Bobby rolled his eyes and looked off to the side. "He wouldn't stop trying to find a way out of that room! I'm telling you, every time I got close to that door, he'd start beating on it. Watching how many people died trying to stop those that were out there under the hypnosis…I was terrified!"

"Sorry for putting you through that," Milton kissed the top of her head and held her tight. "You were the closest to being able to keep him safe, we didn't want anything happening to him, or to you." The others agreed and Jack turned a smile to the large man.

"You'll be happy to know that you're definitely _safe_." Bobby started to smile, but it was only a tiny one at that. Jack could feel in his heart that the man had experienced a trauma so great that he couldn't seem to be happy. "We brought a friend for you to talk to…" Rudy stepped out of the group and waved slightly, causing Bobby to jump up for joy. The man hurried over to Rudy and gave him a massive bear hug, lifting him off the ground. Rudy laughed and yelled out painfully.

"You're safe!" Bobby exclaimed. Jack crossed his arms and chuckled softly. "I thought we'd never see you again!"

"Yeah, me either," Rudy answered. His voice was strained, and certainly his bones were beginning to crack. "Okay, put me down now."

Bobby quickly set him down and pat his back. "Sorry." Rudy moved with him to the couch and sighed. "So…what was it like, being held prisoner?" Bobby and Rudy could likely help each other heal, since both of them had gone through hell. Jack was impressed, and pleased. Rudy looked over to the man and lifted his shoulders. He didn't need words to convey the amount of pain that his eyes gave away. Bobby folded his hands over in his lap and moved forward, sighing heavily "For me, I was just sitting here…then all of a sudden, I had this tremendous headache. I think I started to black out, my body moved without my consent, and the next thing I know, I'm being shoved into some safe room that I couldn't get out of. I know it was for the best, but really the hypnosis was the terrifying thing."

"The most terrifying part of the captivity was dealing with that overly muscled freak," Rudy replied. Jack raised an eyebrow and Oliver bowed his head. Oliver and Rudy hadn't talked with each other, despite being in the same group for the past couple of hours. Rudy would go back home where Miley was resting up with Amanda. He watched as Oliver walked out of the room, then followed.

He found Oliver seated against the wall, his hand combing through his hair, and his eyes deadlocked on the ground before him. "You all right?" Jack asked, feeling a bit stupid for asking such an obvious question. He sat beside Oliver and leaned against the wall with a heavy sigh, listening in silence as Rudy and Bobby talked in the other room. "If that man can try and forgive Phil for what he did, he can forgive you. He and Miley both have said they weren't angry with you, understanding the circumstances."

"Everything Chogan told me was a lie. He's the reason…he's the reason Lilly's dead, he's the reason I took Miley and her father…" Oliver's hand covered his face, and a single tear strolled down along his cheek. "He's the reason Ernesto is dead, and Hilda might have been killed too if you guys hadn't shown up. I…I can't believe the things he's done, to me, to my father, to my _brother_."

His words tugged on Jack's heart, forcing tears to begin stinging his own eyes. It was a bitter feeling he had, but not towards Oliver, towards the entire thing. He knew the man's pain, the man's trouble. Well enough could never be left alone, and sometimes those you trust the most may wind up never having said an honest thing. "I know 'sorry' doesn't say much, Oliver. Your pain, your anger…yeah I understand. I know you're hurting, and I wish I could say healing is going to be easy, but it's not. You can't hide away forever, and eventually, you have to come out of your shell."

Oliver lifted his head and turned his gaze to Jack. His hand swept against his knee while Jack gazed off at a window in front of him. "What can I say, truly?" Jack continued. "When Kim was beaten into her coma, I flew out of control. I acted without thinking and almost lost my own self in the process. I regained it, but it took a little time…everything's going to take time. When Hilda wakes, when you're reunited with your family, you can start healing, but don't forget…you're going to need closure too. You can't avoid Rudy and Miley. They don't hate you, they _want_ to talk to you."

"I'm not ready…I don't know what I'd say to them…" Oliver smacked his hand in midair, speaking with a sarcastic and angry tone. "Oh hey, I'm sorry for ruining your lives! What can I do to make it up to you?" The man lowered his hand and let his head fall back against the wall. Jack reached over to his shoulder, patting him gently. It was hard to be annoyed with him, because he had it right, talking to Miley and Rudy could be the hardest task of all. Though, maybe the most difficult task would be the reunion with his own family.

"It is a start. You're going to have to approach that situation whether you want to or not. Nobody said it was going to be easy, but nobody said you could avoid everything that caused you pain either…you know, pain is what makes you grow, it's what makes you…_you_." Nothing was more genuine than learning and growing from experience as well as the pain suffered by the hardships. "You know, it isn't your fault. You didn't wreck them, and they understand it. Chogan did, Matata did, those two men destroyed just about everyone and everything they came in contact with. It's up to you to get your life back, because you're being given that chance, that opportunity. Don't squander it, Oliver…"

Oliver closed his eyes and bowed his head. Jack wasn't too keen on motivation during rough times, but he did. Oliver wasn't the only person he had to deal with, he was trying to make everyone else feel good, along with himself. Comfort went in all ways here, and it was hard enough. For instance, Sensei Ty was not getting out of jail anytime soon, so Julie was having to move back with her parents. Her uncle couldn't exactly take care of her from a jail cell. What did this mean, exactly? She and Milton would be carrying on a long distance relationship.

He slowly rose to his feet, sighing heavily. "Don't be so hard on yourself Oliver, it'll be all right. Give yourself some time to heal, let yourself recover. Also, you've got a friend in me if you need anyone to talk to about everything going on." Jack moved back to the main room where the rest were waiting for him. Julie didn't appear too happy, nor did Milton. He pushed his hands into his pockets and sighed. "So. What did I miss?"

"We were just talking about my uncle," Julie stated. "I think I just realized that Milton and I…can't be together…" He closed his eyes and felt a near lack of emotion towards this situation. He _did_ care, it was just that this was the least stressful worry on his mind at the moment. It was hard to show emotion towards something when the emotions of everything else were overriding it. "I don't want to be without him."

"It's a bad case, I know." Jack folded his arms over and lifted his shoulders. "Where would you go, though? I'm sure your mom and dad would be able to come up with something, but if not, long distance relationships aren't hard to maintain with the right amount of effort." He lowered his arms and walked towards the couple, putting his hands to their outside shoulders and looking back and forth from their sorrowful gazes. "Be strong, all right? That's the best advice I can give _anyone_. That's what is going to help us make it through this time…" He stepped back and looked over to Bobby, Rudy, then his friends. "We're together now, safe now, and that's the important thing. Focus on that, be strong, and understand…life can only go on from this point. The stuff that's behind us is…behind us now. It's important to use this opportunity that we have to move ahead. Whatever struggles you face, we all face."

He closed his eyes and exhaled, slowly shaking his head as a passion stirred in his gut. "Ciara's having to move to Pennsylvania to let Kim live with her. Kim's mom and dad are _gone_. Rudy is going to be a father, and also needs to take care of his little sister. Everyone's rebuilding their families and their lives. There are millions of people out there that are lost right now, billions of families that are suffering. I know it's going to sound harsh, and don't take it the wrong way, but a long distance relationship is probably the last thing on earth that anyone's going to be worrying about right now…"

"That is true," Milton frowned. Julie bowed her head. "I understand what you're saying, Jack…" He turned to Julie and looked into her eyes, holding onto her hands. Jack raised an eyebrow and stared at the two over his shoulder. "Julie, we can make it work. It is possible. If there are so many people out there struggling with their lives, but piecing them together, then we can make our relationship work whether near or far. It isn't the hardest thing in the world."

Julie smiled at him and put her head to his chest. "I do believe in us, Milton. I believe in everyone." The world was bleeding, and these two were worried about their relationship. He couldn't chide them for it, because it wasn't his problem. He looked towards the side and moved his fingertips to his forehead.

Healing. Could they all do it? Hopefully, but they'd have to take it one step at a time. It might take a long time, but lives would heal.

* * *

What do you guys think?


	60. A Woman's Touch

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 60 (A Woman's Touch)

Jack was hunched forward in a small wooden chair he positioned in front of his motel room bed, the group still stayed in a motel until they were certain everything was completely taken care of. Currently he had this room all to himself, his roommate was at the hot tub with the others. They had two beds in each room, so two people to a room. His roommate was _Oliver_. The rest were paired up as Kim and Ciara, Rudy and Jerry, and Milton with Eddie. There were a few hours before they were going to fly Oliver to his family, who were in for the shocks of their lives. However, he _still_ wanted to get Oliver talking with Miley and Rudy before this flight.

The television wasn't helping him to relax or distress at all, considering almost every channel had breaking news in regards to the missing celebrities. The desk beside his bed had a laptop on with a crucial website. _WhereamI dot com_. It was launched by some fans, and was receiving hits all over the world. This site was much like the site launched for the tsunami that hit Japan a few years back, used to locate missing victims and survivors. This site was being used in case anyone had information on the whereabouts of beloved relatives and celebrities that were taken up by the hypnosis.

He was staring at the news on the television, his face buried into his tangled fingers. The door opened and his eyes slid towards the right, it was Kim. She was dressed in her typical bathing suit, and her body was glistening from the water drops running along her skin. In most normal situations, Jack would be incredibly turned on by the sight, but unfortunately that escaped him today. "Hey Kim, how was the swim?"

"It was all right." Everyone had a key to someone else's room, and usually knocked before entering. Of course, Kim didn't do that with him, so he just had to be prepared for her to enter. A gust of wind hit him as she moved behind him and touched her wet fingers to his bare neck. Goosebumps ran along his body and a passionate tingling sensation trailed her hands as she slid them down his shoulders and forward to his chest. "You seem really tense…maybe you should rest?"

"Hard to do that." When she leaned against him, hugging him from behind, his mind allowed the sentence to guide him to a place he really wasn't sure he wanted to be. Of course, this was a place that would surely mean Ciara would kill him. "So far two cruise ships have rescued a good bulk of survivors, but it's not so much. There's a list online, Izzy Gunnar was found with a lot of survivors on one of the Christmas Islands. Ricky Weaver was also found…with the guy that plays Wolverine." He closed his eyes, grimacing at the angry pit in his stomach. "Ricky didn't make it. He's…one of the first confirmed deaths…"

It was a gut-wrenching pain that made him feel like they were too late. They should have been able to save these people, to rescue them. "You did everything you could, Jack. We did the best we could. We knew what we were getting into when we started this. Some celebrities aren't going to make it, we know that already. Let's just keep hope up for the ones that aren't…dead…yet."

"I wish it could be so easy like that."

"No one ever said it would be easy. You didn't say it would be…" He knew that, but the tough thing was believing it. Did he want it to be easier? That would have helped things. "I think we learned a lot through this journey, and I think we can continue to help each other out, don't you?"

"Maybe…I just, I think we could have saved these celebrities. Couldn't there have been more we could have done?" His muscles tensed as bodies were carted away on the television screen. His eyes grew heavy and misty, and nausea began to settle inside. The image shifted to a helicopter view over the Pacific Ocean. It was zeroing in upon a large pool of blood and floating limbs. His eyes slammed shut as the nausea spiked inside of him. He hated thinking some of those people would never be able to go back to their families, and some families may never know whether their beloved relative is alive or dead. "God. The husbands, wives, brothers and sisters…so many people…dead. We weren't fast enough, Kim. We just weren't."

"Jack. We did everything we could. We didn't _know_ where that machine was at, we didn't know either what that machine was going to do exactly. It's not your fault. Even Oliver told us, there was nothing that would stop Chogan. Chogan already wanted to do it, he'd been putting it off so many times at the request of Oliver and the others. There's nothing we could have done…I know you're upset, but look at it this way…we _saved_ them. There are millions out there that are _alive_ because we found that machine. We stopped Chogan, we stopped the Black Dragons. We did it, Jack."

"I guess. I just don't feel like a hero or anything."

"Hero?" He felt her arms sliding off of him and frowned when she stepped in front of him. She flipped the television off and bent forward in front of him, meeting his sullen gaze. "If you want to be a hero, you already _are_ one." His heart bumped into his ribs, forcing him to wince. She put a hand under his chin and leaned forward a few inches. "Heroes don't always save _everyone_, they save who they can and they give it their all. Heroes are the policemen, the soldiers, the firemen, the doctors, and so many more…sometimes they lose a life, and yeah it's hard, but their heroism isn't measured by the lives they save or the success. You're a hero, Jack. You're a hero to me, to the others, and to everyone in the world right now…why? Because you _did your best_. You didn't give up, you didn't quit, you kept trying as hard as you could to save as many people as possible. You're a hero to your parents, to Rudy and Miley, even though they were rescued by the CIA. So don't be so hard on yourself, Jack. You did everything you could, and _more_. Nobody could possibly ask for more than that."

"I guess…" If he had to talk heroes, he'd say Kim was his.

Kim slowly stood up and closed her eyes, breathing out slowly. "Don't discredit the people you _did_ save. By tearing yourself apart over the people who you lost, you ignore the people you rescued." He lifted his head and lowered his hands to his knees. He wasn't ignoring them. How could he ignore them? "It's okay to be upset over the lives that are lost out there. That's not easy for any of us to take, and it will probably never be any easier for us all, but regardless…our actions still saved many. Think about it."

"Yeah, I shouldn't beat myself up over it, I guess. It's just hard…"

"I know." She moved behind him, sliding her hand up his arm. He breathed in slowly and felt her hands sliding up his shoulders. "You're very tense, Jack. You know that?" He chuckled and lifted his shoulders. He couldn't help it, he was just naturally tense. "Let me give you a massage? I'm good with my hands, I can make you relax."

"That actually sounds very tempting." Tempting? No, more than tempting. He was exhausted, mentally and emotionally drained, and in dire need of sleep. He was tired of tossing and turning in bed. He looked up to his bright-eyed girlfriend and smiled as she took his hands and pulled him up from the chair. He stepped behind her and hugged her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder. "I love you, Kim." She looked back at him and curled her lips upwards.

"Love you too, Jack. Now…lay down. First take off your shirt though, that gets in the way of a good massage." He did as instructed and moved face down on the bed, sighing heavily as he rested his head on his arms folded across the pillow. The bed shifted and Kim straddled his waist. He couldn't say he wasn't comfortable, but he was a little concerned with showing his body to her with all the scars that she clearly noticed. Her finger was trailing one of the scars on his back. "So many…" How many times had each of them come close to death? Ciara had said it wasn't as many as her group when they were going up against Paragon, but it was still quite a bit.

"One of those is either from Matata or Frank, not sure." Frank was the only one to get a _deep_ wound on him. Granted the Indians did their job with their arrows, but it was the battle with Frank and Lonnie that took the most out of him physically _and _emotionally. "Maybe one of those Indians."

"It doesn't matter now." He felt her leaning forward and smiled as her gentle lips kissed his scars. Her kiss was like a healing touch to him, spreading her medication all along the scars. Figuratively, he could just imagine them melting away from his body. "None of that matters anymore, Jack." He breathed out and relaxed his muscles, then felt her moving her arms around his chest as she laid flat on top of him, hugging him. His heart filled with warmth and her love sparked along his body, further relaxing him.

"What would I do without you?"

"I don't know. What _would_ you do without me?"

"Maybe I'd be hopelessly lost."

"More than you already are?"

"Very funny." She laughed and slowly sat up, her arms slid along his shoulders and straight down towards his spine. He sighed contently as she ground the heels of her palm into his back, pushing forward into his muscle. Her fingers tapped along his back as she pushed her hands up to his shoulders.

He felt a brisk sensation floating along his spine and smiled as her lips kissed down along his spine. Her hands continued to firmly massage his back, soothing his tight muscles. A contented moan left his lips and Kim laughed. "I told you I was good. How are you feeling so far?"

"More relaxed than I've been in a long time, I'll say that much."

"Good." He could feel all the stress and tension leaving his body for the first time, and his mind was becoming clearer. The more she massaged him, the more he felt like he was floating on a cloud.

"Is this mattress a cloud mattress?" Jack listened to her soft hum and felt her leaning to the side.

"Nope, not made of clouds."

"Ah, so it is my imagination then."

"Yep."

"Have you considered a career as a masseuse?" Then again, he probably wouldn't want her to give anyone else such a heavenly massage. She laughed and bent over him, kissing once behind his ear. She whispered to him, teasing his eardrums.

"You'd be too jealous of my clients." Damn, she knew him too well. He smirked and opened his eyes, speaking in a soft, calm tone.

"Maybe so…I don't know if I could let those clients feel the bliss of those hands, but I might be willing to part. After all, they wouldn't have you like I do."

"Very true." She moved off him and he flipped over onto his back, gazing up into her eyes. He lifted his hand and caressed her cheek. Kim closed her eyes and leaned into his hand, sighing softly. She moved beside him and cuddled up against him, wrapping her arm around his waist and folding her hand up onto his chest. She kissed his lips, setting off a spark in him. He moved his arms around her waist and she curled onto her side, letting him spoon her.

They closed their eyes, and for the first time in a long time, Jack was able to_ sleep_. He felt the covers slide up over them, then Kim cuddled back up against him. He kissed the back of her neck and smiled as he held her close.

* * *

Tell me what your thoughts on this chapter are. For the record I am working on the final chapter as I type this. I am mere words away from the end of chapter 64. So what did you like about this chapter? Anything you thought could have been done better?


	61. Moving On

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 61 (Moving On)

It was almost time to leave for California, but it seemed like Jack and his group had one last trick up their sleeve. Oliver wasn't sure what it was, but Rudy had left to get back to Miley and Amanda. Now it seemed Jack was guiding him through the mall. "Why do I feel like I'm about to be tricked into something?" He followed Jack with uncertainty, and with a deep sorrowful feeling in his gut.

Before they came here, he'd returned to the motel room to find Jack and Kim asleep in the bed. They hadn't done anything, but he still joked a bit with them in regards to their sleeping together. It was nice to see Rudy in the sense that he wasn't being _hated_, and nice to be able to feel like his old self again, but he was still terrified of talking to anyone. Rudy had tried to talk to him, even making some jokes about old times, but all Oliver could manage was a slight chuckle, or a grunt at best.

He wanted to talk to them, but he couldn't get past the terror holding him back, just like he couldn't let go of the terror of going back to his family. Guilt was eating away at him, though he wasn't completely at fault for the entire ordeal, he still felt responsible for the things that happened. For instance, Matata killing Mr. Stewart was terrifying to him, practically destroying him. Almost killing Miley and Rudy was just as bad.

Then he had to find out the reason he was where he was, the reason Lilly died and Hilda almost died, _everything_ was because of Chogan. Now he came to learn Hilda was Lilly's half sister, so if he didn't believe in fate before, he believed now. He had years to cope with that, and now he was beginning to. "Right this way," he heard Jack say. He lifted his head and pressed his lips together as Jack motioned him towards the Wasabi Dojo. "Just in here, you'll see what I want to show you." Oliver raised an eyebrow as he glanced to the doors, Jerry and Eddie were leaning on either side of the entrance doors.

His heart began to pound as he studied the two men. Behind him was Ciara, who actually wasn't too pleased with Jack in regards to his having been cuddling up with Kim under the covers while she was wearing nothing but her bikini. The woman had been satisfied to know that nothing happened, but she still didn't like it being open to the temptation.

Currently, she had a very frightening demeanor towards her, as if she were expecting him to start running. This was the woman who had put Hilda in the coma, but he'd come to terms with that already. He just wanted Hilda to wake up. "Why does Ciara look like she's guarding us?" Jack looked back and chuckled as he opened the door up with his palms. "Should I be worried?"

"Not at all, Oliver. Though, this has to be done…" His palms were beginning to sweat and his chest quivered. "We won't see Milton today, since he's out with Julie. I suppose that's all right, we don't really all need to be together right now, though it is a good idea to be."

"Uh huh." When he followed Jack inside, he thought he heard a lock clicking behind him. He turned his gaze over his shoulder and frowned at Jerry and Eddie. The sound of two women grunting in battle touched his ears, he quickly looked forward and froze in terror.

Within the dojo was Miley, sparring with Kim. Rudy and Amanda were standing nearby, close to Rudy's office. Oliver's eyes widened as panic started to settle in. Now he knew what was going on. He whimpered and started to turn, but much to his dismay, Ciara was standing outside, glaring in with a wide smirk. He was _not_ getting out of here. He whimpered as the two girls stopped their sparring and looked over. Jack turned to him and sighed heavily.

"Look, I know it's hard on you, Oliver…" Oliver clenched his eyes shut and shook his head. _Hard?_ No, this was more than hard, this was fucking painful. "You _have_ to talk to them. There has got to be some sort of closure. Don't go into it with the mindset of 'they hate me, I ruined their lives', but go in with the intention of _starting over_. You were all friends once, do you think Lilly would want you three to be separate? Would Mr. Stewart want that?"

"I…" He put his hands over his stomach, groaning as it started spinning out of control. "I can't." He wasn't ready for this, he wasn't prepared. It was the right thing to do, sure, but he was scared. Tears welled up in his eyes, burning his cheeks as he moved his gaze towards them. Rudy stepped beside Miley, smiling at him. Miley brushed her hair over her shoulder, standing strong for the first time in the last several years. "I don't know what to say, what to do, I…I'm scared. I'm glad they're okay…I just…" He bowed his head and closed his hands. There was nothing they had to say to him, he was sure.

To his surprise, the two walked over to him, Miley hugged him and Rudy put a firm hand to his shoulder. He gasped out and clenched his eyes shut, his body shivered with intensity as he started hugging himself. "It…wasn't your fault," Miley said with a soft voice. "I'm sorry…I'm sorry about Lilly, about your family, for everyone. I know that man was just using you, and so, I know you're not a bad person. I spent years…wanting to know what was going on, but I could tell…I had my answer when Daddy…" She stepped back and wiped her eyes. After clearing her throat, she motioned to Rudy and Kim. "Rudy was teaching me martial arts, and I get to spar with Kim. She's really, really good! She's had years of training, though."

"Yeah…I've heard good things of both Jack and Kim. Miley, are you going to be staying with J-Rudy from now on?" Miley looked back at him and nodded her head.

"I don't have anywhere else to go. I mean, I'm starting to date Pete, from that place…we're together…I want to be with Rudy though, he's my brother and I've really missed him."

"I'm glad. I uh…I would think you'd hate me, both of you. I…"

"Kind of hard to do that," Rudy shrugged, "Wasabi Code kind of goes against hate." Oliver chuckled vainly and bowed his head. He was stunned by the man-hug Rudy gave him, and felt his tears trying to pour out. He resisted the best he could, but it was far too difficult for him. "Just be happy again, Oliver. You can live your life, Miley and I _forgive_ you for everything. You're being given a second chance as well! Plus, everyone you care about is in California."

"I do think Dylan's father and grandfather have moved to California by now…So at least Dylan, Fan, and Rin are all okay. Hilda…"

"Jack said she's alive and well in the hospital as well. Still hasn't woken up exactly yet, but she's beginning to show the signs of waking." Oliver's eyes widened and his heart leapt up with hope. Miley smiled for him and he nearly fell to his knees to cry out in joy.

"I almost wish we could meet her," Miley said with a gentle voice. "Lilly's half sister." She breathed in slowly and closed her eyes. "I bet Lilly would be extremely happy to meet her. I bet she'd approve of you and Hilda." Oliver's lips curved up into a smile and he was ready to dance. The tension in the air was starting to flee, which was great for him. "Oliver…I know you had a hard time, we all did, but if you're being given a second chance, I don't see why _we_ can't do the same for you."

He lifted his shoulders and moved his eyes towards the side. "I don't deserve it. I deserve to die." Rudy rolled his eyes and stepped directly in front of him, putting his hands to Oliver's shoulders. Oliver lifted his sad eyes up and smiled sadly at his old friend.

"If I hear you say that again, I'll dropkick you," Rudy threatened. Rudy raised an eyebrow and squinted his eyes. "Don't think I won't." Oliver chuckled slightly and kept his gaze locked with the man. He never thought in a million years that he'd receive advice from _Jackson_. "Hilda needs you. As those medical doctors said, she's having twins. Those children deserve you in their life. Your father and brother need you more than anything, and then there's your friends…Dylan, Rin, and even Fan. Everything happens for a reason, okay?" Rudy smirked slightly and looked back to his pregnant fiancé. "Look at it this way, Oliver. If not for you, I would never have met Amanda. If not for you deciding to try and get me to bring Miley her brother, well…we would never have reunited again, those prisoners would never have been freed, and Chogan would have become worse. We might never have seen my family again either."

"Yeah…" Oliver rubbed the back of his neck, chuckling slightly. "I guess I jumpstarted Miley's freedom then." His heart brightened as Miley's eyes sparkled. This was an excellent way to look at it! He helped save Miley by going after Rudy, by getting Jack and the group to jump into everything. He helped save her from the Black Dragons. He saved Rin and Dylan from Chogan. Ernesto and Jack had a hand in saving Hilda. "I did some good…"

"Exactly. You also were captive, and you deserve peace. You deserve to live your life. Don't spend it wallowing in your depression." Rudy put his hand to his chest and inhaled. "We're not troubled, we're not letting it destroy us. We're moving on. You should do it too."

"I guess. I've lost a lot of years, though…I don't even know where to start…"

"Everyone's got some trouble there, but don't worry, you'll figure it out. Miley wants to start her college career up, going into education. Choir teacher." Oliver looked over to her, pride in his heart. It was a big step that she was making, and of course, he had faith in her. "Your job now, Oliver…taking care of your family. Your _true_ family. Your past is behind you, it's all behind us, now it's time to give the future some concern."

"Right. T-Thanks…" He felt _warm_ now. It was nice to know Rudy and Miley could move on. If they could move on, then so could he. "Thank you…"

"And hey, when you get back to California, maybe look up Rico and see how he's doing. Tell him we said hi." Oliver smiled at that, but frowned when he heard Jack clear his throat. The trio looked over to Jack in question. "What's wrong?" Jack chuckled nervously and motioned his head to Ciara outside. Rudy paled and Oliver's eyebrows shot up. That was all that was needed, clearly he probably didn't _need_ to pay Rico a visit anyway.

He was, however, looking forward to seeing his dad and brother. Finally _free_, and it felt so damn good.

* * *

What do you think?


	62. Family Sticks Together

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 62 (Family Sticks Together)

"So she basically…neutered him?" Oliver asked as he and Jack walked down the streets of California. It was only Jack that was with him, the others stayed behind to help their families out. He was petrified of Ciara at this point, and felt bad for Rico, but yet, annoyed that Rico actually lost himself. "He used to be a good friend…I mean he was tricky, but a good person…I can't believe he would actually turn like that."

"You'd be surprised how convincing greed and hatred can be." It could taint the heart and soul, he knew this, but never before did he think or _believe_ that _Rico_ could be so tainted. He didn't want to think about the guy right now, he had to put him in the past now. He had to put everything in the past. Starting today, he was beginning his life anew. He saw Jack stop moving and look back at him over his shoulder. "So tell me, how are you feeling? You okay? We're almost there…"

His heart was racing, his body heating up, and his head aching with each step. He slowly nodded and breathed in sharply. "I'll be all right." How was he supposed to react? How would his dad and brother react? "A bit terrified, but okay."

"Fair enough." The two kept walking, and with each step, Oliver became more nervous. He didn't want to panic, he wanted to fight the suicidal urges telling him to run. He'd basically spilled his guts to Rudy and Jack before leaving, and continued his conversation with Jack while on that private jet. He confessed to the suicide attempt. "You, your dad, and your brother…you'll make it. All of you together. Then when Hilda wakes, you can all be a family." Oliver grinned at that, he wanted to be family. He wanted to have a family that wasn't going to be torn apart. Jack looked back at him with a subtle smirk and winked. "Consider yourself protected from this point on."

"How so?"

"Your dad is terrifying enough. No way in hell he'd let anything happen to his boys." Oliver laughed nervously and put his hands to his stomach. "Dangerous…"

"Really?" Had his dad truly changed? The man was always tough, hard as nails. It wasn't unbelievable to think that his father would have grown tougher after what Chogan had done. "I mean, he's always been strong, that's why I looked up to him."

"He's protective, that's certain. A bit intimidating, but a family man. I don't reckon he'd do anything to risk losing you and your brother…" Jack paused and bowed his head. "I just said 'reckon', didn't I?"

"Yep." Oliver smirked at him and folded his arms over. His father always had that effect on people. Whenever he spoke, people wound up mimicking his speech after a while. Whenever they were around him, or getting ready to talk to him, they would wind up picking up on his southern drawl. "That's my dad for you. God I'm excited to see him again…Lance too!"

"Glad to hear it, because we're here." Oliver's heart stopped and his eyes fell upon a brown home in front of him. His muscles tightened and he started to whimper. It wasn't so much a fearful whimper as it was an anxious, nostalgic one. He was filled with such disbelief in the moment that he couldn't begin to even twitch a finger. He felt Jack's hand on his shoulder and started to slowly return to reality. "You okay man?"

"Y-Yeah, it's just…all these years thinking…thinking that…" He couldn't speak. His chest was on fire and his lungs were failing him. He kept imagining this to be one big joke, one big prank to pull him down and kick him. His heart skipped a beat when he saw his _brother_ walking around the corner of the house, leaving the backyard fence where someone was using a lawn mower.

Lance had grown pretty well, he looked remarkably as Oliver had when he was younger. Lance was wearing black jeans with chains from his belt to pockets, he had a black shirt with a skull on the chest, and spiked wrist bands and choker. His hair was long, sweeping before his dark brown eyes.

A whimper left Oliver's lips as Lance looked up to him and froze. Jack waved to Lance, who quickly ran back into the backyard, screaming for his dad. Within minutes, Jasper Oken was being led around the house by his son. Jasper's eyes grew large as Oliver took a shaky step forward. Tears sprang from his eyes, and his feet had begun to fail him. What should he do? What was he supposed to do?

"My son," Jasper whispered under his breath. "You brought my son back to me…" Jack looked from Oliver to Jasper, smirking triumphantly.

"Well I did say I would, and you know…I hate to go back on a promise. My word is like gold, valuable and without fail. Set out to do something, I'm going to do it. Now…" Oliver felt Jack push him, then proceeded to stumble forward, eventually finding himself in his father's arms once again.

"I-I thought you were both dead." Oliver wept with his father and with Lance, sobbing as he felt his family's warmth for the first time. He was breathless, stunned, and speechless. "God…" His father had tears streaming down his face as well, and Lance was as much a wreck as he was. Jasper tightened his hug around his sons, kissing the top of Oliver's head. Of course Jack had to think it was an odd sight, seeing this mountain tear up.

"You're safe, son. You're safe now." Jack took a seat on the curb across the street, chuckling as the trio talked with one another. He was overjoyed to have reconnected this family.

After a few minutes, Oliver walked over to him and sat next to him, his father and brother remained across the street, hugging one another. "Jack. How can I…how can I thank you?"

"Nobody said I was finished yet, but you don't need to thank me. How do you feel, being with your family again?" Oliver glanced back at his father and smiled, lifting his hand to sweep away the tears in his eyes. There was _so much time_ to make up for, and he was already planning on helping Lance curb that drug addiction of his, if possible. Hopefully his brother was not too far gone.

"Words can't express how happy I am to be a part of their lives again. I missed them more than anything…" As the wind breezed though his hair, his body began to warm up. It struck him that Jack had implied there to be something more he was planning, so what was it? "I'm going to miss the others though."

"Why miss them?" Oliver raised an eyebrow and glanced down to see Jack pushing his phone into his pocket. Before he could ask about it, he was amazed to see Dylan, Rin, and Fan walking around the corner. His jaw dropped and Jack's lips curled into a bright smirk. "Rin's family was here in California, Dylan's family moved here. The CIA found them, took Rin's mom to her."

His heart jumped to his throat and his legs took a slow step forward, currently they were the most conscious part of him. Rin stood in between Dylan and Fan, holding her hands together in front of her waist. She had a shy smile and gentle eyes. Fan was to her left, half-lidded eyes and a smooth smirk warmed his battered soul. Dylan had one arm around Rin's shoulder and was waving proudly.

Now it was possible for them to still be together, he couldn't believe Jack would do something like this for _him_. Hell, he didn't want to believe _anyone_ would do this for him. Dylan was the first to reach him, throwing his elbow onto his right shoulder and grinning from ear to ear. "Hey man, we're glad you're okay! I do have some good news."

"What's your news?"

"Well…" Dylan motioned his hand towards Rin, her cheeks turned bright red and her hand quickly covered her growing smile. "Rin and I are _definitely_ getting married, and I want you to be my best man." He was overcome with elation, nearly jumping for joy. This was an immaculate honor, the best damn day of his life!

"I would be honored." The girls made their way beside Dylan, and overcome with emotion, Oliver moved his arms around the three of them. They hugged him back, all on the brink of tears. He knew he didn't deserve all of this, but he would take the opportunity of a second chance.

He felt someone's hand on his shoulder and glanced back to see his dad and brother. It dawned on him in that second, here he had his best friends and his family, all one big family. All that was needed to complete this was Hilda, but as far as he knew, she was still in her coma, but safe. He wasn't sure how he would feel going up to her family, and it was still hard for him to swallow that _Ken Truscott_ was her father.

"Son, if you would like to come inside, and bring your friends, I have dinner in the oven. I would love to have a full family meal for once." Jasper looked from Oliver to Lance, who was chuckling nervously at his father's words. Oliver gave him a knowing glance and raised his eyebrows, smirking slightly. "That means you too Lance." Lance waved his hand in the air and closed his eyes, trying to act cool.

"Of course I'm not going anywhere, why would I? There's nowhere for me to be." Lance opened his misty eyes and looked towards Oliver, his lips curved and he seemed to bounce on his heels. "My brother's here and alive…" He wiped his eyes and stifled a sob. "I must be dreaming."

"Not a dream," Oliver replied, "I'm back to stay too. Chogan won't be a problem anymore, either…" Jasper rolled his eyes and promptly introduced him to Dylan and the others. Oliver looked over to them, admiring his father and friends. In the corner of his eyes, he saw Lance remove a Ziploc bag from his pocket. The bag had white powdery substance. He held his breath, waiting as Lance threw the bag into a nearby gutter. Oliver's heart swelled with pride as he looked over to Lance and put his arm around his shoulder. Lance flinched once and smiled back at him, putting his arm around his shoulder as well.

"I'm glad you're back, brother…glad you're here to stay too."

"We're brothers, we need to stick together." His eyes drifted to his father and friends. He closed his eyes and slowly breathed in. "We're all a family, and I won't let anything separate us again." He had a lot to live with now, but hopefully they could all help each other to bounce back and recover.

* * *

How did you like it?


	63. Fresh Start, Clean Slate

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 63 (Fresh Start, Clean Slate)

The next morning, Oliver braved the hospital corridors with Dylan, Rin, and even Jack had come along. Jack was still considering himself the 'witness protection' for them, as well as Hilda. When they reached her door, he was afraid to go inside, he could see her family through the window. "A hell of a time to meet the family, don't you think?" Oliver rubbed the back of his head and glanced pathetically at the others. Jack rolled his eyes and pointed to the door.

"You may as well go in. Don't be so nervous, and don't go in angry either." Angry? He wasn't angry with anyone in the room. Sure, he wasn't happy with Mr. Truscott, and he certainly didn't know what to think of Yvonne and her three children. In his eyes, both Yvonne and Ken abandoned Hilda. He didn't have time to be angry, though, he was just happy that Chogan never managed to get his hands on her. All this time, she'd been safe because of Ernesto and Jack's team. What more could he ask for?

"I'm not angry with anyone." He put his hand to the door handle and peered through the glass window. His eyes fell onto Hilda and his heart mourned for her. She looked as though she were just asleep, not in a coma. He would give anything for her to be awake, for her to be in his arms. "I don't know why she had to be put through all this…I feel like it's my fault she's in there…" Jack put his hand to his shoulder. Oliver flinched and glanced to him. His frown lines deepened as he met Jack's serious, calm gaze. "You understand…"

"Yeah man, I do. Like I told you before, I went through the same shit when Frank put Kim in the hospital. It's easy to blame yourself and not be happy for what is. What you have right now is _freedom_, Hilda is _safe_ and _alive_." Oliver slowly nodded and glanced back through the window. Ken and Yvonne were standing on opposite sides of the bed, the three grown kids had their backs to the door. It seemed they'd just arrived before him. Would they blame him too? Jack followed his gaze and exhaled. "Kim came with me on this journey because she wanted to, and love does the craziest things. In the end, she wouldn't have done anything different."

"I can see that. Are you saying Hilda…"

"Probably doesn't blame you in any way. Now go in there before I push you into the room."

"What if they're mad at me? What if they blame me?" Jack rolled his eyes again and leaned his shoulder against the doorframe. His arms crossed over and his eyelids fell halfway.

"I already spoke with them over the phone, Oliver." His eyes widened for a moment and his lips pressed thinly across his face. "They said they don't blame you, of course, they blame Chogan. However, they also told me they don't believe they have a right to be angry. She followed you because she wanted to, and all of them left her behind. So with that being said, they don't feel they have a _right _to be upset."

"I don't know that I'd say that, but I guess…" Jack's hand lowered down to the handle and pushed it down, a smirk grew on his face and Oliver's eyebrows shot up. "What are you doing?" The boy's foot lifted up and kicked back on the door, kicking it open and out of Oliver's hand. Everyone in the room snapped their eyes to him and he remained petrified. Dylan moved behind him and pushed him forward. Once inside, he looked back to see the group shut the door. _"Great, I wasn't even ready." _Of course, he could have taken all day if someone wasn't there to push him in. He scratched the back of his hair and chuckled nervously. "Hi there…I'm Oliver…"

Ken smiled at him and Yvonne perked up, lifting her eyebrows and widening her smile. "Oh, Hilda's boyfriend." She looked back to her daughter and frowned. "I'm sorry to say she's still not awake…the doctors are taking good care of the babies growing in her though." He was truly happy about the safety of his children, though hit hadn't hit him until recently that he would be a father. He smiled at Hilda and slowly stepped forward, putting his hand to the edge of her bed. He gazed at her, admiring how beautiful she was and how well the nurses and doctors were caring for her. Yvonne caressed her daughter's cheek, her eyelids were halfway down and her already tear-stained cheeks had a fresh tear strolling along to her chin. "She's so beautiful, my angel…"

"She is." He closed his eyes and pulled his lips back. Surely Yvonne would have to answer to Hilda about her leaving her behind, but he wanted to know, what reason was good enough that the woman would leave her daughter back? "Why did you do it? If I can ask, Ms. Bodil…why did you leave Hilda?" Yvonne lifted her head and Ken looked over to Oliver with a frown. "You're not so honest either, Mr. Truscott. What reasons were good enough…there aren't any…"

"You're right, there is no justification or excuse," Ken answered. His hand brushed along Hilda's arm and his eyes glossed over. His frown lines deepened and a crease formed along his forehead. "I know what happened with me, and I'm guilty of not being there when I could have been. She was my daughter as well, and thinking back, I would have given anything to have my two girls playing together in the yard. I was selfish, and I paid for it." He turned his gaze to Hilda and bowed his head. "I don't deserve her in my life, but I want that chance to be there for her again. I want that opportunity…I do love her, she is a part of me…"

Yvonne swept her finger across her eyes and sighed, "I was selfish too. Because of my actions, not only did I lose Hilda, I lost my three children." Oliver glanced back at the three siblings and smiled at them. "Garth, Simone, and Helga…now that I'm here with all _four_ of my children, I want another chance…I do." He nodded and gazed back to the beautiful blonde, a peaceful feeling swept over him and his heart lifted joyously. They were all getting another chance.

"As long as I've known her, she's been very forgiving." He walked along the side of the bed and knelt down, taking Hilda's hand in his. Her fingers were soft and warm, still so full of life. "I'm still here because of her, because of how she affected me. I love her, I'd do anything for her…she's carrying my children and, I…I want to ask her to marry me…" A gleam appeared in the family's eyes as he brought his forehead to Hilda's hand. Tears burst from his eyes and his body began to shake, he wanted to beg her to wake up. "I need you, Hilda," he whispered. "I need you in my life…the dragons are gone for good, we can live happily…another chance…just please wake up. I love you, I need you…we all need you…"

As the room grew quiet, everyone closed their eyes and listened to the only sound that was the life monitor. After a few seconds, a small and weak sounding voice penetrated their ears. "I…love you too…" Oliver's eyes widened and his head jerked up. Yvonne and Ken were gazing down at Hilda with their mouths agape. Hilda's hand squeezed Oliver's and her beautiful lips curled into a soft smile. "I need you too…" He was ecstatic, she'd finally awakened! Tears were dripping from her eyes as she met his gaze. "I want to be with you, Oliver. I'm glad…that you're okay…how are the others?"

"They're fine. Rin, Fan, and Dylan are all outside…Chogan's gone, Chogan and Matata both. Ernesto…died protecting you from Chogan…" Hilda closed her eyes and breathed in, as though absorbing the news. Her eyes opened and glanced to Yvonne and her siblings, she smiled wryly and slowly nodded her head. "I…do forgive you. I want you in my life too…" Yvonne's hands flew over her mouth and the elder woman began to weep. Tears of joy no doubt. Garth and the twins walked behind her. Garth put his hand to his mom's shoulder while Simone hugged her. Hilda looked to Ken and slowly wiped her eyes. "You…you too…I want to know…everything about Lilly."

Oliver smirked and teased her, knowing how often the two of them had spoken of Lilly over the years. "As if you don't know about her." Hilda lifted her eyes towards the ceiling and brought her hand to rest on her abdomen. Her expression grew serene and her lips curved into a smile as her eyelids slid down.

"I know…she's been with me…I saw her, she helped me to find my way…to wake up. My sister, I never knew her, but I love her." She looked over to Ken and meshed her eyebrows together. "I want to be angry with you, I do, but I can't…same for Mom…we'll talk later, but…can Oliver and I be alone?"

"Yes," Ken responded. The family started to leave the room and Oliver leaned forward, tearfully kissing Hilda's forehead. She carefully wrapped her arms around him, putting her head to his shoulder and weeping bitterly, finally breaking down. She must have been awake for a while if she heard their conversation, but then, many things could be said of someone who was comatose.

"I'm alive, Oliver…I thought for certain…" He wrapped his arms around her, holding her closely. The wound was long gone, but the physical scar on her body may remain. It was probably better that she had been in the hospital during this time, because her life would have been more at risk with Chogan if she wasn't hospitalized. He felt her fingers on his cheek. She brought her lips to his, her tears mixing with his, catching him off guard. After a few seconds, she pulled back and bowed her head. "Sorry, I…"

"It's all right. I'm glad you're okay, Hilda, I really am." To what extent was he happy? He was half tempted to run to the roof and scream the news at the top of his lungs. Never would he let her go, not when he'd come so close to losing her. "I love you." He ran his fingers through her hair and put his forehead to hers. "I'm not going to let you go again, I promise you, I'm going to take care of you and treat you the way you deserve."

"I love you too…and yes, I would love to marry you…" He smiled and leaned back, amazed that she heard even that. "Just…give me some time to recover…"

"Right, but I'll be right here for you the whole way through. You're going to be a mom, you know that?" She beamed happily and slowly nodded her head. Her face scrunched and her hand moved to her forehead.

"I feel so weak right now…"

"You've been out for two months." She gasped softly and set her head to his shoulder, moaning. "A lot has happened, but everything's going to be okay. We can be a family now. You, me, and our daughters."

"I'm glad…Mom as well? My siblings? Even Ken?"

"Yes. All of us. My dad and brother too, they're alive Hilda." She grinned and hugged him again, congratulating him. "Chogan was a pretty good liar and manipulator. Jack's group…they're the ones that found you…"

"Yeah…they saved you too?"

"Yes. They saved us, they saved their family and helped beat Chogan. Chogan activated the machine, I didn't want to. I knew you and the others didn't want that, and neither did I…but the celebrities are all in the process of being rescued."

"Good. I'm glad to hear you had no part of that."

"You had an impact." He smiled and looked to the door, Hilda followed his gaze and sighed contently. Dylan, Rin, and Fan were gazing in with ear-to-ear grins. "On all of us." Hilda motioned for them to come in, the trio rushed in and started to hug her one at a time.

"I can't believe you're awake!" Rin enthused. "Finally!"

"Yeah, it's about damn time," Fan remarked. She had a smirk plastered on her face and her arms crossed. "Here we were starting to wonder if you'd ever wake up before your children got a chance to be born." Rin playfully shoved Fan and proceeded to inform Hilda that she and Dylan were getting married. Hilda gazed happily at her friend and closed her eyes.

"I am so glad to hear that." She looked down to her belly and wiped away a tear. "My babies, I've already decided on their names…" Oliver's eyebrows lifted and he moved his hand to her belly. He was ecstatic and was eager to know what names she wanted. "Lilly, for my sister, and Marisol."

"Marisol?"

"Marisol is the name of a girl, a girl who found herself amidst confusion and doubt. Overcoming her personal tragedies and fears…moving beyond her fast. Marisol is in us all…"

"I love it," Oliver commented with a smile. The name was beautiful, it rolled easily on the tongue. He didn't know why, but he knew the story of Marisol. Before anyone else could say a word, three nurses came rushing into the room. Hilda glanced up at them, glad to see them, and curious to how long recovery would take. She'd not walked in so long, but if he had to guess, she'd be back on her feet in no time.

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That ends Oliver's bit, what do you think? The next chapter is it, the epilogue, basically. Tell me your thoughts of this chapter, hope you enjoyed it ^_^


	64. Piecing Back the Puzzle

Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

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Chapter 64 (Piecing Back the Puzzle)

A year passed by somewhat peacefully, it had taken months for all the celebrities to be found and rescued, but millions were _still_ missing. It was a true tragedy and had overtaken the news media that normally reported every 9-11 anniversary without fail. Now, it would appear this new tragedy would become the one that, ten years later, would annoy the living shit out of anyone trying to _forget._ Considering Jack was sitting in the dojo watching the news reporter talk about how 'the world remembers' the celebrities. It was September 12th, and the New York attacks only got a brief mention, shockingly enough.

He shook his head and looked away from the television to see Kim walking into the dojo. He smirked at her and put his arm around her waist as she tenderly kissed his lips. "Are we going to go watch that movie?" Many of the celebrities had _still_ not returned to their respective careers, some quit altogether, but there were a brave few that continued their careers early on. Hugh Jackman, Clint Eastwood, and even Izzy Gunnar had returned to their careers within three months of absence. They were some of the first to do so.

Jack removed the towel on his shoulder and glanced to Rudy's office. Rudy and Amanda married a while back and were the proud parents of a baby boy named Robert, short for his father. Currently, instead of being out here and sparring with Jack, he was in the office on the phone, baby talking his son. He wouldn't miss anyone. Jack smiled and looked back to Kim confident and ready to meet up with his friends. "Looking forward to it!" Miley was in college now, on the path of becoming a vocal coach. After some time, the CIA went forward to tell the world that Hannah Montana had been one of the early victims of the Black Dragons, murdered in 2002. It was a relief to Miley to be _free_ of that cloud. The brother and sister were still friendly with Oliver, who was doing well with his daughters and family over in California. Jack corresponded with him on occasion, getting updates on how everyone was doing.

Dylan and Rin were enjoying their marriage, still shared a home with Rin's mom and Grandparents. The family had added a nursery for the couple's child, and more good news was that Rin was already expecting her second child to be born in about seven more months!

Fan was portraying the image of every typical aunt, spoiling the baby every chance she got. She was more than happy to take up a job in child services and was aiming to make the CPS something people could one day be _proud_ to have around rather than hate. Rin also had taken up singing, Dylan was doing a series of different jobs to save up for their own place one day. Fan, on the other hand, already _had _her own place, she managed to talk the CIA agents into it.

Hilda was happy with her mother and siblings, and was growing closer to her father as well. The two parents were _not_ together, nor did they ever plan on dating one another, but this was to be expected.

"Let me say goodbye to Rudy real fast." The group still felt a duty to watch over Rudy. It was a strange thing, but in truth, a bond had formed between them due to the experience. He hurried over to the door and knocked, waiting for Rudy to respond. "Hey Rudy, we're headed to the movie, we'll swing by later!"

"Have a good time!" He called back, "I made a new baby album to show you guys later!" He raised an eyebrow and chuckled. Yes, Rudy had become _that_ father.

Jack clapped his palms together and looked over to Kim, she was looking around at the walls and had her thumbs hooked into her pant pockets. She'd been doing well lately, whereas a year ago, she'd break down almost every other day when thinking about her parents. Fortunately, Ciara had been great to live with, but very protective. The two were still maintaining a pure relationship, but that didn't make Ciara's glare any less intense. She was not letting anything slide, if she even caught them cuddling in the bed, it looked like she was half tempted to push them apart! "All right Kim, everyone else is down there?" He started for the door and Kim grabbed his hand, walking beside him. She put her head to his shoulder and nodded.

"Yeah…" As for the rest of the group, Milton was doing great despite the difficult long distance relationship with Julie. She had to move back with her parents considering her uncle was in jail, and still he remained. The couple had their ups and downs, and the strain of being separate happened with both, but they were still going strong. Already they were planning their next big get together, but of course, they always had one weekend of every month to visit each other. The two likely had the least trouble when it came to adjusting to the changes that were happening, considering their biggest priority always seemed to be their relationship.

Jerry was spending more time with his father, having discovered the pain of being without his family during such a trying time. He never wanted to have to feel that he would lose his dad again, the same was said for Eddie, who now had a stepmother, the woman his dad started dating from the island. For Jack, he loved his family and would give anything to protect them, both his direct family, and the family that consisted of his friends.

"You know, I'm surprised that you want to see this movie, actually."

"Why not? I mean it is one of the first movies to come out since the tragedy." While actors _had_ returned to work, it still took time to produce movies. This one they were going to see was actually based off of their adventure, and the primary actor greatly resembled him, which he found odd. Then again, directors wanted to try and tie in every factor exactly right. There were still a variety of facts that were not known to the public, only because Jack and the others didn't really _want_ to go public with the things they'd done. They weren't looking for glory, for fame, or anything of the like. The only thing they wanted to do was exactly what they accomplished, rescuing their families and taking out the crime. "Plus, Hugh Jackman's playing the General in charge, of _course _I want to see!" It was funny, the _real_ General was an old man, but that didn't matter. The actor had done this film as a method of stepping back into his comfort zone, it really was his 'coming back' film.

"Well I'm sure it'll be good," she laughed heartily as they exited the dojo. She silenced abruptly and stared ahead at the shop in front of them. Jack followed her gaze and frowned, shaking off a growing unsettling feeling inside of him. Nobody had heard from Phil since he left a year ago, and his shop was now a jewelry store. The old reptile shop had also changed into a pawn shop since the adventure. Nobody felt comfortable with going into either store just yet, considering the memories still remained. Kim squeezed his hand and closed her eyes. "You can change the outfit as many times as you want, but the inside will _always_ remain the same."

"It'll get better in time, Kim. Nobody expects to forget the memories…" As nice as it would be to forget, there was still the need to remember. The memories would always serve as a learning experience.

"I wonder where Phil's gone after all this time…sometimes I just can't help myself."

"I know." He didn't want to be found, and to tell the truth, he might have gone into a witness protection program himself! "Even Bobby's not around often." The loveable oaf had become relatively a bit of a recluse. Mr. Wasabi did _not_ trust any bodyguards other than his own people, nor did he want to hire any new ones. That wasn't surprising, considering the millions of celebrities out there were the same way. "Hey. Didn't Izzy perform a song for the movie coming out?"

"A couple, yeah…it's great to see some of the celebrities trying to test the water again. It would be horrible if none of them did."

"True." It was as Izzy had said when he first tried singing again, and he _was_ the first singer to get back into the swing of things.

_"I know a phrase as old as my great granddad, and it goes like this: 'The show must go on!' We've suffered a tragedy worse than...god I don't know what the worst thing I've lived through was, compared to this…but we can't give up on our careers cause some madman decided to…to kill us because of what we do, what we love, what we enjoy! If we give up, if we quit, then they win mates, don't let them win…so my friends, let's go out there and show them what we got! Let's rock! Yeah!" _

Such motivational words from, perhaps, the last person Jack would ever expect to _be_ motivational. They worked, however, as many celebrities started going back to work after that. Still, it was a long and grueling recovery process, but things were slowly beginning to shape back up. People were proving it _was_ possible to bounce back after something so tragic, and of course, everyone wanted Jack and his team to come public so they could ask them to be _their_ bodyguard.

As they made their way to the mall theater, Jack smiled at his friends all waiting for them. Jerry waved, and Eddie's sister rushed up to the two. On the wall behind them was the poster for the movie, and above its title was the shadow of a man performing a side kick into another shadow figure. The motion picture was _Wasabi Witness Protection Warriors_. Amazingly, that was the closest it came to predicting who the saviors were.

There was still no way they were ever going public, nor did Jack wish to be anyone's bodyguard. After all of that, he had _enough_ action in his life. From this point on, he just wanted to settle down, relax, and have fun with his friends and his girlfriend. There was no question, however, that if Rudy ever needed them again, they _would_ do whatever it took to help him out.

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What do you think of it, this final chapter? Izzy's words to the celebs was pretty inspirational. Well this story came a long way, it is sad to see it go, but I am proud of it, and grateful for everyone that followed it along ^_^. You're all awesome, and it was great to be able to entertain you with a good story. All good things must come to an end, however, and with that being said, we bid Jack and his team a fond farewell. Let me know your observations on how everyone ended up, and go enjoy my other works ^_^


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